Runner 2
by AnnaNymose
Summary: Three and a half years after the events in 'Runner', the city of Hector finds itself in the midst of a serial bomber that appears to be another germ boss. What it really is, though, is a threat from a long, long time ago. And to defeat it for good, Hector's going to need other heroes from the past. Some willingly, some reluctantly, and some thought to be gone for good.
1. Chapter 1

_-To all those who've read 'Runner' and stuck around for the sequel, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and sincerely hope that you enjoy the sequel.-_

_-Thrax-_

Spit. Literal.

"B-boss!" Sniff and Sneeze chorused over waves of saliva, the tongue suddenly lunging forward and uprooting all of us. As if this body hadn't been a massive failure already, now we were exiting French-style. From where we'd been on the taste buds, we were thrown forward, the mouth opening and shining a blinding light down on me. I winced and squinted, the spit rolling forward between taste buds and throwing all of us forward, barely anywhere to latch onto for stability.

I threw an arm out, grating my teeth together and thinking that this was the last thing that I needed to have happen, when suddenly, the second tongue joined us. Sniff screeched, and I looked up just in time to see a giant shadow cast over us. One hand firmly gripping the edge of a taste bud, I looked up to the huge object sliding towards us and frowned.

"Oh, you gotta be kiddin' me." There was only one option that didn't end up in me getting crushed, and time to act on it was running in short. I lifted myself as high as I could with one arm and braced for impact, a wall of saliva heading my way with Sniff and Sneeze tumbling around above me. If they made it or not, I wouldn't put myself out of the way to ensure. Although, over the years, the two seemed to find a way out of even the most impossible situations.

With them screaming above me, I sucked in as much air as I could and let go of the taste bud, falling down and splashing into a pushing wave of saliva. Sounds were muffled, my eyes closed for a moment while I held my breath. When I managed to open them, everything around me blurry, I angled myself a certain way and reached forward through the thick, watery substance and, after a final push, grabbed the end of the second tongue.

I pulled forward and broke the surface of the saliva, breathing in and coughing just a bit before sliding downwards. The lips around us were joined, and I had to say, despite the discomfort and damn-near being crushed to death, this was one of the easier ways to body-jump. With a darkness now sealed around me, I slid clear down into the second mouth and managed to get my feet up under me, crouching until I reached the very back of the throat. Then, jumping up and hooking onto the bottom of my trench coat, I soared.

The air was thin in there, and I had to act fast before I ended up falling straight down the throat. I looked around quick, then found a large divet in the throat and angled myself down towards that. The tongue was moving up ahead, shaking the throat, but with a few close-calls I was able to land on the little ledge, stumbling and cursing until I got a sort of balance.

Out of the fray, I stood up, smoothed back my dreadlocks, and let out a long sigh. I reached up, taking off my shades and flicking saliva from them with a grimace.

"Ain't kids ever heard of 'holdin' hands' nowdays?" I muttered angrily, that chick I just exited still locked with whoever I'd just fallen into. Not that I was upset, with the Immunity in her being a pain in my ass and managing to trip me up one too many times. Now, I was over my deadline, soaked, and irritated. Not to mention exauhsted, as if I got much sleep these days.

Before I could get a good look around, there were two screams from above me and, barely stepping aside to avoid them, two loud 'smack's right beside me. I hadn't looked over, frowning and still looking at the throat around us as the two germs heaved and stood up shakily next to me.

"Boss! Hey, Boss, we made it!"

"Of course you did."I mused unhappily, looking around and seeing nothing but a normal throat and no sign as to where we were. It had to have been farther down, and without a second look back to them I walked to the edge of the ledge, seeing the person finally pull back for air. "Meet me later, boys." I threw back as I caught the updraft, jumping and hooking my coat, hearing them call out after me as I angled downwards.

I thought about acting out now, but held myself back. Acting too fast was what screwed me in that last body, putting the symptoms on too fast and not giving myself time to acquire a group of meat-shields to take on most of the, pun not intended, heat. So I just flew, catching gasps of breath and moving jerkily up and down, dodging the windpipe and speeding down, seeing a sliver of city open up. I hadn't seen a sign, and I saw why just before I broke into the open body. It had been broken off, the poles holding it up bend and screwy.

'Great,' I thought to myself as the city opened up before me, moving down to fall between two large apartement complexes, 'not like I'd need to act like I know the place or anything.' The buildings came up fast and I maneuvered between them, landing safely on the ground without so much as a sound. Sniff and Sneeze would find me somewhere, they always managed to, and for right now I had to concern myself with finding out my location. Needed to know if this were going to be an adult or child, what state the body was in, all things I'd have to learn from the scum between pretty city buildings like this.

Right now, though, I didn't see any lurking creeps in the shadows. In fact, all I heard were muffled voices from the front of the apartement I'd slid next to, and they didn't sound like germ voices to me. With my luck, I'd ended up near a group of civilians. 'Spit!' I cursed in my own head, keeping myself silent as I turned and climbed up one of the fire escapes. The voices below kept muttering, and as I made my way along the side of the building it struck me that I could snatch one of 'em up and get some info out of them. No germs involved.

And that meant catching on off-guard and keeping it clean when I wasted them. The voices got louder, and then entered the building. Smirking, I slashed a bright-orange line through the first-floor window and, brushing aside the ripped membrane and keeping sure that no one had called out anything, I slid easily in.

Inside I was in a small side-room, the door across from me open and the voices coming from just inside the door. They were low, muttering something in secret as I looked around the filthy room I'd just jumped into. The walls were peeling, the floor was littered with trash, and it looked nothing like how it looked outside. Casting this aside, I made my way to the doorframe, back against it and waited for one of them to separate, for a voice to get closer.

And as I did, I couldn't help but think that these voices, something about them sounded...almost familiar. It wasn't likely that I'd see a germ twice in my life, let along a normal civilian, and yet these voices, three of them with one female and two male, seemed to ring some sort of bell in my head. I quirked an eyebrow and listened harder, but the two quietest voices were now whispering and footsteps were heading my way. Adrenaline rushing through suddenly, claw lit, I waited until the footsteps got just outside the door...

A flash of red and I had him, throwing an arm out and then hooking a nail into what felt like a jacket, and then yanking the person inside the room, claw up to their chin as they called out suddenly... I froze, eyes wide, and shoved the white-blood cell away from me.

"Jones!"

"Thrax?!"

There before me, in all his Immunity glory, stood a shaken and shocked Osmosis Jones, the white blood cell I hadn't seen in a long, _long _time. His gun was held shakily out in front of him, eyes wide and brow furrowed, me unable to think of anything to say with a twitch in my hand. Jones was, and always had been, the last person I wanted to see. And after our history together, I was hoping I'd never run into his ugly mug again...

In seconds the other two ran in, and I knew now why I'd recognized the voices. With gun much steadier than Jones's, Maria Amino whipped around the corner and looked to see what had happened, the giant pill agent Drix rounding out onto Jones's other side. But, the moment we all locked eyes, weapons were lowered(if only slightly) and what took place were exclamations.

"Thrax?" Drix asked in a tone a bit too proper.

"El Muerte Rojo?" Maria's dialect rolled out the nickname and her gun was completely lowered. Normally, it would be the other way around. If an Immunity officer knew who I was, it was fair game for a shoot-out. Not with these morons though, not after our history together. I grit my teeth, things starting to fall into place in my head.

I clenched one hand, the claw forgotten for now as I huffed out a breath and ignored a coiling feeling in my gut.

"Spit." I snapped, "Don't tell me I'm back in Hector. Please, not with you all again..."

"Well I missed you too, sweetie pie." Osmosis shot back sarcastically, frowning and crossing his arms. Maria stepped foreward, gun still in hand but now completely lowered, and asked with a frown,

"How'd you end up in Hector? No one's reported any unauthorized germ immigration from the ears or nose." I rolled my eyes and nodded outside, in the general direction of the mouth.

"Our little Hector's swappin' spit with the body I _was _tryin' to ditch out on." Drix got a concerned look on his face, but I stopped him before he could ask, already sore about it, "And no, pill, the other body ain't infected. It was this chick, got a damn good immunity. You all could take some pointers." I had opened the side of my jacket and taken out my shades, sliding them on while Ozzy cheered and elbowed Drix, a big dumb grin on the white blood cell's face.

"Ya hear that? My Hector's got some moves! Uh huh!" He did a little dance while Maria rolled her eyes, me eyeing the window I'd just come in through. If I could get out before they saw, I'd make it to a new body in no time flat. I had to get out of here, regardless. Not this body, I'd never wanted in here again. Already standing here, breathing this air, it made my skin crawl, and it was taking more than it should have to block out certain images associated with Hector. I closed my eyes behind the shades and let out a breath.

"Well, as much as you don't want me here, I don't wanna be here. So, if you'll excuse me-"

"Shh!" Maria snapped, and I looked at her shocked as she suddenly brought her gun up and pressed her back to the doorframe. I was silent out of pure curiosity, realizing she hadn't been talking to me, and through the silence that followed came the muffled sound of something chirping. I quirked an eyebrow and, despite my previous thoughts of exiting, took a few steps to the door, Jones and the pill following.

"What's that?"Drix asked quietly, the chirping noise echoing from somewhere up the stairs to our right. Maria shook her head, then waited a few more beats before turning into the main parlor and putting a foot on the first step. Jones and Drix followed, with me left to grip the doorframe. I paused, looking back to the window, thinking of getting out of here. Of breathing fresh air, of putting as much distance between here and me as possible. I gripped the frame so hard it creaked, and I pushed out a breath as I let it go.

I never wanted to be back here. I wanted to be a thousand other places but here, wanted to forget that this body even walked the goddamned Earth. I wanted _out_. This wasn't even any of my buisiness, let Immunity handle whatever was going on in here... And then a darker thought entered my mind, and it was so far off that I didn't even have to think much to brush it off.

But it did enough to make me follow them. I could always leave later.

When Maria reached the top of the stairs, eyes narrowed and listening, she nodded her head down the hall that we could half-see from where we stood on the stairs. I thought of too many reasons to turn back by the time we reached the stairs, not the least of which being that I didn't particularly _care _about whatever situation this was. Remembering how something about this place, this body, made me overreact about things I shouldn't have cared about. Obsess over them.

Quietly I cursed myself, grumbling through a pang in my chest, and it suddenly dawned on me to ask a bit of an important question,

"Why were y'all in here in the first place, huh?"

"We got news of some big-shot germ boss putting bombs in some of Hector's muscles, and we figured the neck would be his next hit. Man, that'd put a hitch in Hector's game right now!" Jones exclaimed, making Maria turn and smack the back of his head. But while they walked to the front of the door that the chirping was coming from, I was stopped by the stairs, face fallen and a dread in my gut.

"Bomb?" I asked, and Maria was about to snap back something along the lines of 'that's what he just said', when she caught my drift. She paused, freezing, eyes wide as she gasped and spun around.

"Everyone down,_ now!_"She exclaimed, just as I was grabbing the railing next to the stairs. Should have left when I had the chance, should have ditched right when I saw them. That's what I got for walking into something that wasn't my buisiness, that's what I always got. I cursed a constant string of words under my breath, adrenaline returning as, with the chirping that was now unmistakably a count-down, I jumped onto the railing. The others were scrambling for the stairs, and I was planning on making it as far as I could, still cursing under my breath.

But I'd only hooked onto the bottom of the jacket and jumped when, with a silence and one last, miniscule, anti-climactic 'beep', an explosion roared behind us. A heat that barely bothered me as much as the shrapnel did pushed out from behind us, and I barely had time to throw my arms in front of me as the force behind us slammed full-power into me.

From there, it was a mixture of colors and the turning on and off of all sound. For moments at a time I'd black out, only to come to again as I tumbled through wood and brick and fire behind us. I was upside down and rightside up too many times to tell what was what anymore, fighting for conciousness when I was thrown hard onto the ground, feeling something in my shoulder dislocate. I grit my teeth as my vision dotted again, sound of crashing and burning and people shouting all seeming too far away, shadows of what I could barely make out as tall buildings hovering over me. I was awake enough to see an alley, and then it began to blot out.

I'd been in worse scrapes than this, including the first time I'd met Jones in the Zit. That bomb had gone off not two feet in front of me and I came out of it kicking. But this one...this bomb had a kind of power behind it that, had I not been slipping from conciousness, would seem almost familiar. But now, tumbling and skidding along the ground in a way that was going to hurt like a mother, all I was thinking was how badly I wanted to get out of here.

A flash of orange and brown as I finally rolled to a stop, everything blurry and finally completely blotting out. I'd left this body once in a way I never wanted to experiance again. And now this.

I lost conciousness just a few moments after my vision blanked, passing out to the sound of footsteps near my head.

_-?-_

The news people flickered silently on the screen. Faces solumn, a still-image of the building in ruins in the background. Shuffling papers, indifferent eyes as they recounted, without volume, the failure of Immunity to get the identity of the new serial-bomber. The colors flickered across the room, invading shadows and falling on otherwise dark objects. I was looking for a particular color.

But I didn't find it. Not that I was too perturbed, I wouldn't worry. I knew it was there somewhere, lurking just beyond the camera lense, tense and tremoring like the flickering images on the screen. It was diluted, maybe. I hadn't seen it in person to tell. It could have changed shades as I had. It could be blotched and blurry. But I'd know it like a friend.

It couldn't hide from me. I was too intuned with it, I knew every fibre of its color, knew the way it moved and danced through the hues on the screen. It would be here. I was, if I wasn't mistaken, already here. I sat back, the news now covering something else, disregarding what was so impendingly important to others, but not to them. I closed my eyes and listened to a silence, and then breathed slowly out. I was waiting for the color white.

_-Thrax-_

It smelt stale, and then it felt stale. The air all around felt like the taste you got in your mouth when you woke up from a rough day, and I cringed before I even remembered how to move. The alley had to have been far from the blast, because there was a cold in the air that bit at me the way not many things could do. And then I realized something a bit odd: I'd fallen onto my shoulder. I was lying on my back.

With more force than I thought necissairy, I opened my eyes, only to squint against a bright light above me. I closed them again, breathing in as a dull ache began across my left shoulder, remembering what had happened and groaning silently. I could only guess as to where I was, opening my eyes again. Whatever guess I had, it was wrong.

The ceiling was familiar. I'd spent a good few hours staring at it over three years ago, and god damned if it wasn't generic, but I knew it. I knew it. And then my chest clenched, and I grunted, fighting through it and gritting my teeth as hard as I could. I squeezed my eyes shut again and just felt, physicaly, that I was on a bed and there were blankets and no noises from outside this room. No IVs, and no monitor to check for a pulse. Those kinds of things didn't work on viruses, anyway.

I wanted to ball my fists up against my face for remembering this goddamed ceiling, but the ache in my shoulder was too bad, and my right hand had some itchy, useless bandage wrapped around it. So I just had to lie there and stifle another curse, trying to think of who could bring me here in the first place. If it were Immunity, wouldn't they have put an officer or two at the door? Or did they really trust that much that I wouldn't burn this place to the ground?

That thought became strangely appealing. Burn it down, and if I took this body down with it, the wouldn't that just solve a good majority of my issues? Not the deep ones, not the ones that boiled up through a festering wound, but the shallow ones, the immediate ones. It wasn't a bad idea, and it grew in the seconds where I lay in my own self-pity, gritting teeth hard and squeezing my eyes shut.

And then there was movement above me. I don't know how I knew, but some part of me felt a head tilt, some part of me felt it like I was reaching out and touching this person. They moved just above me. And they spoke before I could open my eyes and see if it were real.

"Hey, shh, you're okay...still got that glove I left behind?"


	2. Chapter 2

_-Thrax-_

There weren't any machines hooked up to me to say that my heart had stopped, or that it picked up too fast when I finally opened my eyes against the white light above me. I wasn't focused on my breathing, and thought that I was light-headed because of the blast. That had to explain it, cranial damage making me hallucinate. Because this wasn't happening. This couldn't happen. I lay frozen in that bed, looking at the ceiling I knew too well.

Fingertips brushed across my forehead and someone leaned over, having been against the wall near the headboard, and I took in a forced breath. Because I knew these fingers, and if they could touch me, that meant they were tangible.

"Well? Not even a 'where you been'?" The voice asked above me. It was no different, if not for a small undertone that made her voice a bit quiet, made the words not as sharp as they should have been. It was soft and quiet, and finally, finally, though I felt like my entire damn body was made of lead and my arm still ached, I turned my head into the hand tracing my cheek.

It was like seeing something that was too real to look at. Because I'd seen the smoke and the empty container, read the slip of paper that was the last thing she said to me, and it was the only thing that I was sure of: She had died. She had died and I'd spent the last three and a half years trying to get through the daily reminders, three and a half years pushing down a few days of my past. Three and a half years. It should have been a hallucination. But her fingers and her sad smile, it wasn't anything my mind could make up. My chest siezed a bit and something heavy fell into my gut, and just as she opened her mouth to say more, I interrupted her with her own name.

"_Iris._"

_-Iris-_

The very first time I saw him, I wasn't afraid. I always wondered why that was.

"Hey, so you do remember me." I breathed out, half-smiling and half-laughing, feeling just a tad bit too overwhelmed. Because I'd prepared myself for this moment, for three and a half years I'd readied myself to finally see him again. I thought of what I'd say, all the things I could tell him. Except then there was always the possibility that I'd never see him again. It loomed over me, year after year, that it could have been the last I'd ever see of him.

So right now, I had no idea of what to do. I only knew that as disbelieving as he was right now, it was worse for me. I'd seen the explosion, I'd taken him here with great effort, and I'd stood by him for the past three hours. I'd had pleanty of time to relax into the idea that he was here again.

Except I still, three and a half years later, wasn't used to the idea that I was alive.

So I stood there looking at him, chest exploding and laughing off nerves until we were both silent. And then he was pushing himself up, and I was reaching a hand forward to stop him because the doctor had said how bad his shoulder was bruised, but a familiar hand wrapped around my wrist and stopped me. He slid to sit sideways, grey turtle neck moving with his deep breathing, eyes narrowed and mouth slightly ajar, brow pulled together. For a moment, a terrible moment, I thought he was angry with me.

"Thrax?" I asked, in the silence of the hospital in the late night hours, just before traffic rushes that would bring in all sorts of blood cells and germs. He reached his other hand up, pushing back my hair that was the same length it had always been, except now it was pulled back into the sloppiest bun possible. He smoothed stray hairs from my face and kept his hand on the side of my head, looking at me with such an intense look, those familiar yellow eyes, that I worried for a moment.

It had been twenty-four hours that we'd given into whatever connection we decided we had. We'd never said it out loud, and more than once I wondered if it hadn't just been a fleeting thing that stuck with us. I wondered that now, a sinking feeling in my chest as he sat still, looking at me as if trying to figure out if I were real or not. It was a terrible thirty seconds.

And then the hand on my wrist tightened and he lunged forward too fast for me to move, the hand in my hair gripping and lacing through the back. He stood and, without warning and stumbling forward so fast that I would have fallen backwards had the clawed hand not gripped my shoulder so tightly, brought our lips together. It was sudden and rough, not truly a kiss but more of a declaration of desperation. And I understood.

Three and a half years.

I kissed back just as hard, just lips and pulling each other closer until it was almost impossible. My hands gripped at his chest and good shoulder, eyes squeezed shut, and feeling a release in my chest that was so intense I almost fell over. Again, he was what kept me standing, arms wrapping around me, face close to mine, a familiar and unnatural heat. His mouth was so familiar again, and I flashed back to the first time and the last time I'd kissed him. Then it seemed like nothing could be better.

The second time, right now, was infinitly better. I heard him take in a breath, both of us holding on and falling into the realization, all at once, that this was real. I was alive, impossibly so, and he was here with me again, almost where it all had started and ended. And I wanted to stay there forever, just there, with no bad news and no more conflict. How I wished, so hard, that this reunion was the last obstacle that we had to face. I wished I didn't have bad news. I wished everything could be at peace, just once.

He pulled back, both of us panting, looking down at me with his hands firmly on my shoulders, eyes wide and mouth still partially open. I took a breath, blinking, hands falling to my sides and the bun in the back of my hair now almost completely undone. And then, after precious silent minutes, Thrax spoke in a voice I hadn't heard in a terribly long time.

"That enough 'hello' for you, baby?" Hector, that voice. I took in another breath, but before I could even finish it I was laughing quietly, half from nerves, and half from joy. Because it had taken so much, and now here I was. Here he was, and I knew that the rest wasn't going to be easy, but for right now I'd take what I was getting.

Breathless and chuckling, I could only nod to his question. And I looked back up at him, red skin and sharp features and yellow eyes and violet dreds. And had the door not opened just then, I'd have kissed him again. But it did, and voices rang into the room that made my heart jump.

"Yo! Thrax! We got word you were in the hospital! Guess all those years away made you soft, huh-" Thrax stepped away, hands falling from my shoulders as, slowly, we both looked to the door and the small group that had just walked in. A breath escaped my chest, three immunity officers and two germs standing just in front of the doorway. Three people I never thought I'd get to see again. My makeshift family portriat.

Osmosis Jones was in front, with Drix to his right and Maria to his left. Behind them, two familiar voices scrambled to see, but were blocked by taller legs. The three were what I focused on, the three that made my heart pound and a smile slowly find its way onto my face.

Ozzy stood in the same outfit as always, from black shoes to jacket, his face fallen and eyes wide. Maria next to him, eyes ever-suspicious finally giving way to shock and something muttered absent-mindedly in Spanish. Drix had one hand half over his mouth, eyes wide and floating just a bit lower. Ozzy, Maria, and Drix. I'd missed them almost the most, so much it hurt. And all I could do was stand there when I wanted to tackle them all.

"...Wait..."Ozzy said, voice quiet, eyes flickering from me to Thrax, then resting on me. Maria was the first to form a coherant sentence.

"Iris? But that's...impossible." I smiled at her, missing the accent, missing the relentless skepticism. Missing them. I shook my head.

"It's possible...just a bit complicated." I explained as best I could, and it was like letting open a flood gate. Without warning, Ozzy and Drix had lunged towards me, but unlike Thrax, there was much less kissing and much more bone-crushing hugging. Ozzy got to me first, wrapping me up in a hug so tight that I couldn't breathe, arms wrapping around me and shouting out,

"Oh my Hector! You-you..."He couldn't get out words, just squeezing impossibly tighter and laughing just as I had been. Drix slammed into us after, lifting the two of us clear off the floor and wheeping uncontrollably, all the while blubbering,

"I-I can't b-believe it! Our little girl's all back! Oh my, oh dear!" I would have laughed if I could breathe, but with the combined force of Ozzy and Drix, I was surprised nothing had broken. And yet I couldn't complain, because they were here. They were with me, hugging me, and I was hearing these dorks speaking and crying for the first time in _three and a half years._ I couldn't even begin to explain what it felt like. What that period of time can do to a person who needs their family.

"Yo! Put her down, you wanna snap her in half?" Thrax's angry snap came out, and Drix instantly set us down, sniffling with Maria rubbing his back, still looking at me incredulously. Ozzy stepped back but kept his hands firmly on my upper arms, his eyes glistening and a smile that split his face opening to say something.

Until the second wave hit.

"IRIS!" Two voices shouted out, dodging around Ozzy and tackling me to the floor. Suddenly there were arms gripping my neck, two sets, and two familiar voices cheering by my ears. This time, able to breathe and balancing myself on my hands behind me, I did laugh. I'd almost, almost forgotten these two, the germs that were dog-like loyal to Thrax. I sat forward and wrapped my arms around the skinny and fat germs.

"Sneeze! Sniff!" I exclaimed, and they gasped(Sniff sniffling).

"You remember us?" Sneeze asked in a high, excited voice. I nodded and said, patting their equally squishy, green-grey backs,

"Of course I do! You two were the greatest henchmen ever."

"They were?" I shot Thrax a look, and he rolled his eyes, but kept quiet. It took about a minute to peel the germs off me, but once they did Maria gave me a hand up(Drix finally getting control of himself) and asked, shaking her head,

"Iris...chica, I can't believe I'm seeing you...what happened? After...you know." She didn't want to say it, as if just speaking about it would suddenly reverse all of this and make it have actually happened. But my shoulders were sore from hugs, my face was sore from smiling, and my chest was sore from clenching tight at the euphoria of a moment delayed too long. It was all too real. And as badly as I wanted to tell them all, as much as I wanted to recount exactly what happened, to give them answers there and then, I couldn't. Not just yet.

"I'll tell you everything, I swear...trust me, you'll want to hear it. I'm not here for no reason," Ozzy, who was still smiling and bouncing on his feet like a child, suddenly gave a curious look, "but it has to be tomorrow, okay? Thrax has to rest, and I have to figure out a way to put it all in order, and...you'll all want sleep for this."

"But Iris!" Ozzy exclaimed, clearly not wanting to leave yet, looking like he wanted to wrap me up in another hug and not let go. And I wanted to let him. I wanted to sit here with everyone and talk into tomorrow, and then some. I wanted to joke and explain and let them know that I wanted to see them, that if I'd been given a sooner chance, I would have. I wanted to listen to them, to fall back into being the group we once were. But, even as I spoke, I saw Thrax silently sit back on the bed.

"I'm sorry, Ozzy. But tomorrow, as soon as possible, I'll meet you in the Immunity meeting room."

"Why can't we just come back here?"Drix asked in a stuffy voice, still wiping a tear away. I bit the inside of my lip and looked around to the few nurses walking past, looking in to see what the commotion had been all about. I shook my head.

"It isn't something I can explain here." Maria gave a concerned look, and I locked eyes with her, hoping she would know. Maria was the one who always understood, who made the decisions for the boys. This time was no exception, as she saw something in me and nodded, turning to the boys and putting her hands on their arms.

"Okay, move it boys! Iris ain't gonna be able to tell us if she's half-asleep, alright? But," She turned around as she ushered the boys and germs to the door, "she'll tell us every-little-detail tomorrow." It wasn't a question, but I nodded anyway. Part of me didn't want them to leave, giving a small wave as Sneeze and Sniff turned around to say 'goodbye' another dozen times. The other part collapsed into a plastic chair next to Thrax's bed the moment the door closed, the last thing being said by Drix,

"I can't believe it...she's back..."

Finally, the room was silent again, and I sighed. Five minutes made me more exauhsted than I'd been in weeks, and I was looking forward to sleeping as much as Thrax. I leaned an arm on the bed, looking up at him as he took my hand and put it on his leg. This hand had no glove, but it wasn't bare by any means. Without the left-hand glove, remembering the moment when I'd decided to leave at least one trace behind, one mark that I'd even been there at all, the hand did not match the other one. Insead of black leather, my entire left hand was wrapped in white bandages. From wrist to fingertips it was covered. For more reasons than one.

Thrax paid it little mind as he looked around, and I, eyelids falling rested my right arm next to him and buried the side of my face in it.

"Your jacket's over there," I nodded to the hook on the wall behind me, "just leave it for now. I'll get the glove tomorrow. Now sleep." He paused, hand flattening out on top of mine and brushing down as far as he could go. I no longer wore the white tank top, it having been unfortunately damaged in the capsul. Now I wore a long-sleeve button up, with sleeves that bunched up at my wrists because they were just a tad too long.

Absently, running a hand to my elbow, Thrax sighed and smirked a bit. I chuckled, knowing without him speaking.

"Had to go conservative in my old age." I muttered sleepily, and for the first time, things just began to settle back into how they used to be. It was barely so, and there were still feelings that we had to overcome, feeling of skepticism and bloated fear of this being fake, but there it was. That feeling, welling up in my chest and spreading in goosebumps across my skin, swelling and coming back as if it never left. I felt as if, maybe, it never had.

"Old age? How you gonna call twenty-two old, huh?"

"To make you feel bad. Now go to sleep." It was getting a bit difficult to articulate sentences, and it was only now that I remembered the last time I'd slept. Four days ago. But Thrax paused, hand resting in a warm patch on my forearm, until I had to open one eye and peek up at him. He was frowning down at my arm, and after a moment he shook his head. "Thrax?"

"...I don' wanna sleep."

"Don't be a child."I teased, but he didn't smile. He frowned, shaking his head and looking away in a look that I could have sworn by Hector was embarrasement. Worry creased my brow and I slid my hand back until I could lace my fingers through his, pressing my skin to his, missing this friction of cold and hot. "You have to sleep. You got blasted from an apartement, I saw. They said your shoulder's gonna be fine, but that bruise-"

"What if you ain't here when I wake up, huh?"

I was silenced, looking up and now a bit more awake. He smoothed back his dreads in a painfully familiar way, looking away. It wasn't like him to worry like this. Then again, hadn't he done just that right before our last meeting? And I knew how that ended... There was a pang of guilt in my chest, squeezing his hand and trying to breathe through it.

I wasn't blind to how much harder it had to be for him than me. I knew he was out there somewhere, I knew that there was the slightest chance of seeing him again. To him, that wasn't a luxury he could think or hope on. To him, I wasn't even alive anymore. And knew this fear he had, that I wouldn't be there, that this would all be some dream to wake up from. I had that, when I was sure I should have been dead, for months and months...and even now, there would always be that fear that I wouldn't wake up and somehow, some way, living had been a dream. That I really would never get to see him again, even now holding his hand.

I moved as much as I could and pressed a chaste kiss to the claw and said quietly,

"I'll be here. Promise." It took him a few breaths, but finally he conceeded and pushed himself back, settling against the pillow. I removed my hand only to throw covers over him, mummbling with my head down, face to him, "Want me to tuck you in?" He snorted, and for the first time in three and a half years he laughed. It did something, spreading some kind of warmth through my veins and making me smile right back. He turned to face me and took my hand in his, closing clawed fingers around it and lifting it just enough to press warm lips to the skin on the back, then resting it down.

"You'll be here?"

"I'll be here."

He made a grunting kind of noise, and it took all I had to not crawl in and put myself under his arm. I'd thought of it every night, the feeling of sleeping next to him, of waking up to him sleeping. Now I was so close...but he needed sleep. We all did. Today was the only respite we would be afforded...

Tomorrow, I'd have to tell them how, after three and a half years, I ended up back in Hector. As I fell asleep, hand warm and wrapped in his, I wished that I were here on better terms. I wished that I'd happened across a teenage Hector and reunited as peacefully as I wanted to. I wished that I hadn't followed someone back here.


	3. Chapter 3

_-Iris-_

Something hit the top of my head, jerking me awake suddenly. My head flew up and I batted away whatever had fallen there, half-awake and seeing something familiar laying on the bed before me. It looked like an old friend, having gone places I hadn't with stories to tell, and yet it looked exactly the same.

"You kept it."I mused, picking up the glove and looking up to see Thrax sitting on the bed next to me, trench coat on and cracking his neck.

"'Course I did."He said matter-of-factly, and I looked back down to it. Then stood and slid it into my back pocket for later. I didn't want to undo the bandages on my hand, not just yet. There were other things to attend to.

"Did the doctor O.K. you?"I asked, and he nodded and mused,

"Oh yeah, yeah."

"You're lying."

"Of course I'm lying. Let's get goin'."

"_Thrax._" I snapped as he stood, walking to the door. He didn't turn around, so I jumped forward and grabbed onto his elbow, turning him around and scolding, "Thrax! I'm not just gonna let you out of here not knowing if you're okay or not!" He rolled his eyes and groaned, slicking back his dreads and placing the claw under my chin, making me look up at him. I glared as much as I could while being treated like a child.

"Baby, I'm fine. Besides, nothin' these docs can do that I can't."

"Other than complicated medical procedures." I mummbled, and he gave me a playful smack on the side of the head.

"Don't mummble, it ain't polite. Now c'mon, Maria's gonna skin me if we're late." He threw over his shoulder. I'd stopped being angry before he'd finished talking, focusing on making sure he didn't wince when he moved his shoulder as I walked up next to him. Through halls and past overly suspicious looks from nurses and doctors, we made our way outside. I didn't mind the looks, inching away from them out of instinct, knowing that any call to Immunity wouldn't matter much with them expecting us.

At the front door, Thrax put a hand on my back, pulling me to him as we passed by two large white blood cells standing guard. I thankfully pressed against him, sighing as a feeling of safety found me in him, walking us outside and into the light of the City of Hector. I breathed it in, Thrax moving away for a moment as I stood there and looked out, hands finding my pockets.

The buildings rose just like I remembered them, but things were...more built now. Hector had grown, and where there had been empty alleys there were now apartements and kiosks selling all sorts of things. The air was still clear, which meant they were doing a good job of keeping him clean. I'd been in many bodies over the years, seen decay in kids too young, and even though I was not born here nor had any blood-related ties to this place...I was glad Hector was thriving. I felt that this place, of all places, should deserve to survive as long as possible.

I was cut from my thoughts as, with a loud screeching sound that made me jump back, a car pulled up in front. It was red, sharp front and other features making the vehicle look down right deadly, let alone not road-safe at all. From the driver's seat leaned Thrax, who had the window rolled down on the passenger side and was grinning up at me. A real Thrax smile, and I'd have thought it was beautiful had I not immediatly pieced together how this car came to be. It looked like the one he had before. But not enough.

"Thrax."I said in a warning tone, walking up to the door and opening it, leaning in. He quirked an eyebrow behind his shades, claw hand resting lazily over the steering wheel, the other arm over the seat I was to sit in. "Did you just steal a car?" He leaned back and shrugged, saying calmly,

"Stealing is such a nasty word, baby. I've improved it for the owner, and will take their thanks in a deposit of letting me borrow this for awhile."

"You're not well." I shot at him, shaking my head and sliding in, slamming the door shut and hoping we didn't get arrested on the way to Immunity. Oh man, that wouldn't look good. Thrax cracked a real smile this time, and I looked over at him with a warmth spreading across my chest. There it was again, that feeling that I couldn't even start to explain, wrapping itself around and spreading goosebumps over my skin. I leaned my head back as Thrax looked to the road, not taking his eyes off as he stretched over and buckled me up.

"Gonna need that." He threw my way, and I didn't have time to ask why. Just as he said it his other hand went to the wheel and the jerked it to the right, throwing me to the door and screeching the tires as we careened to the side of the road. I let out a shout that may or may not have been a curse, I couldn't tell, as other cars skidded all around us. After an insane half-turn, Thrax slammed a foot down and we went shooting across four lanes of traffic, all the way into a side street that led down from the main highway.

Once we were able to drive down a back road, Immunity's building closing in on us, Thrax just sat back and began humming. I, on the other hand, was white-knuckling the handle of the door and panting, wide-eyed at the road ahead of us. And it was silent for a good while, letting my heart fall back into a normal rhythm, trying to block out the image of my impending death just a few moments ago. From beside me, Thrax chuckled. I looked over at him, incredulous, and asked in a shaky voice,

"Was that funny to you?"

"No,"He said, smiling, "you are though."

"Oh I'll show you funny!"I threatened, letting go of the handle and giving Thrax a backhand right to the center of his chest. I doubt he even felt it, never veering on the road as he laughed it off and pushed me away with one hand almost too easily.

"Hey now! Time's made you mean, girl." He mused, and I frowned at him, crossing my arms.

"Or maybe you're just crazier than I remember you."I tried, just as we pulled up next to the tall building.

"Or maaaybe,"He sang, quickly turning off the car and sliding out, opening my door just as I unbuckled, "we're both just the same. Just older." I turned and stepped out, nudging him away so that I could get to the sidewalk. It was quiet the rest of the walk, in through the front door, avoiding nervous looks from secretaries and off-duty officers. We didn't get stopped, and maybe that was because they'd been warned. But still, with all the eyes, I felt my skin crawl.

What I'd been doing hadn't exactly been 'running'. But that didn't mean my lifestyle changed at all. I hadn't been dancing around crowds, sleeping in well-kept places, walking in daylight. In fact, the only thing that changed about what I'd been doing, the only changed factor, was the fear. It was gone. Not completely, parts of it still clung to me in the deep hours of the night, or if I saw a shadow flash across a building that didn't look quite right.

It had been a strange three years, but Thrax was right. I hadn't changed much, neither had he. I just wasn't scared anymore...or not as much. These eyes on us, they still bothered me. And, without fail, Thrax's arm found its way around my waist as we came down a familiar hallway, and up to a familiar door. It was astounding, the things I remembered going to once in over three years. But I knew the way, knew the door. Knew the voices behind it.

"We're late."I groaned quietly, opening the door.

"And then I say- Iris!" Ozzy stopped mid-story, which, by the look of a half-asleep Chief, hadn't been exactly enthralling. But the moment I stepped in, Thrax's arm falling to his side as he and Maria began to speak, Chief woke right up. He stood, now just a bit rounder and hair a bit whiter, but just as gruff and serious. Except this time, he looked like he was almost smiling. I walked up to him, remembering the old man that had led us into the last fight, and saw him look at me and shake his head.

"Shoulda known better than to think you went out, kid. I've seen weirder." He sighed out, and I took that for his way of saying that he missed me. I smiled back to tell him the same.

"Yo, yo! C'mon, let's get this rollin', I wanna hear what Iris's got to say!"Ozzy exclaimed, and with a few grumbles, we all sat down. Me next to Chief, with Thrax on my other side. Maria sat at the head of the table, facing away from the door, with Ozzy and Drix on the other side. They all looked at me expectantly, and though I had nothing but time to prepare...I paused.

I had no idea where to begin, how to explain to them what had happened. Even if I took out most of it, the parts where I had panic attacks and nights with no sleep, wondering if it were all real and where I could possibly go, if I took out the embarrasing bits where I sat alone and wondered if they'd remember me, if what I'd done saved Hector at all...it was all so hard to believe. I cleared my throat, looking at my hands and tapping my fingers on the table.

"Uh..."I started, pushing stray hair from my face, the bun still horribly messy. They were silent, and just as I started to panic, I saw a reflection. Not mine, just slightly to my left. Thrax, looking at me through the black tabletop, shades being removed and eyes on me. And then, just like that, the words found their way back. They stood on my tongue as I took a breath, sitting back and looking at everyone, nodding.

"During the fight...the only option I saw to end it without Pox setting off the bomb was to...well, you all know."Eyes flickered down and back up, lips were bitten quickly, "So, the tube filled up with gas, and I couldn't see, so for a moment I thought that this was it." I could remember then the feeling. Pox shouting behind me, throwing me forward when we were both trapped. The gas, rising up, burning my skin raw, my jaw clenched and hoping that it wouldn't feel like that for long. And it didn't.

"What you mentioned before, about Hector not being born with a heart condition so the tube was never used?...That saved my life. The tube was so weak, because they never had to use it, that the moment we exited through a pore it shattered."

"Wait, so you're saying it just...broke?"Drix asked, and I nodded, splaying my hands out on the table and explaining,

"I noticed in the beginning that screws were lose, and the glass was splotchy and had some cracks in it that come from old age. That thing had to have been neglected from the moment it was put in. When it had the impact of air, the whole thing broke apart and I went flying. The next thing I remember, I was on some woman's arm in some sort of supermarket. I couldn't find Hector, and...couldn't understand how I was alive.

"Then, when I finally came to grips with that...I realized that if I were alive, so was Pox." A few of them tensed up, but I kept going before they could interject. Mainly, Thrax, whose hand clenched into a fist on the table as he sat back. "So I decided that, if he were alive, he may try to go after Hector again. If not, well...no matter what his goal was, I wasn't going to be running from him anymore. So I started looking for him.

"I went to countless bodies, looking for any clue that he could be anywhere. For a long time, it all came up dead ends, and I thought that maybe I'd never find him...and then I ended up somewhere in England, and the Immunity in that body trusted me more than any other. They gave me patterns that Thrax had followed, and when I saw which ones couldn't have been Thrax, I got my first way of following Pox. I went to places he had been, and for a time I was getting so, so close...

"I'd spent over three years searching for him. At times, I was hours behind him. And when I thought I couldn't get any closer, I realized that it was too easy. Pox runs alone now, his entire reputation is destroyed after what we did to him. But he did something that I didn't think one single virus strand could do, I thought it only happened in family lines, but...you know that antidote they made for him? He's been looking for a way to evolve past it, like how Influenza does every year or so. But he's trying to do it as one person.

"He's trying to gain power back, but he needed to take care of one thing first. I realized why he was letting me follow him, and why he was getting closer and closer to this particular part of America... He wanted me to find him. Not right away, but soon, after he had a plan together, he wanted me to find him so that...I don't know, so that we could face off one last time. He knew that if he ended up in Hector, then I had to follow, regardless if I knew his plan or not. So he found him.

"He found Hector when I couldn't, and once I followed him here I had to hide out. I wanted to see you all, I wanted to so badly, but...if there was a chance that I could stop Pox first, not get anyone involved, then that's how I was going to do it. But then I heard about the bombing, and I knew he was trying to coax me out, and then I saw Ozzy and everyone at that apartement, and then Thrax..." I trailed off, sitting back and out of breath, feeling like I'd spoken more just then than I had in years. And, honestly, I had.

There was a heavy silence for a few moments, and then Chief asked what they were all thinking,

"So you're saying Pox...is back here? In this body? Looking for some way to evolve past the antidote?"

"Well, that's...more of a hobby, I guess. I think he's really after me."I explained, putting my hands in my lap and lacing my fingers together, Ozzy shaking his head.

"Well, it's gonna be a cold day in Hector before we let him at you again! Ain't now way he's getting close to you!"He exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air and almost hitting Drix, who scouled at him. I paused, realizing that Thrax had been silent for the whole thing. The only idication that he'd been listening being him tensing at the beginning. Slowly, I looked into the reflection of the table, and saw him looking up at the ceiling.

"This isn't too bad,"Drix tried, "at least now we know the identity of the serial bomber."

"Yeah, now we just gotta figure out where this sorry sicker is!" Ozzy was riled up, but I wasn't sure. I could see them all agreeing, but I felt a weight in my chest. A guilt, dragging them back into this...

"Y'all catch any of those thugs he scrambled up last time?" Thrax spoke for the first time, and it was a serious tone, darker. Looking up at him, his face was in a frown and he just looked to Maria. She nodded, raising an eyebrow and explaining,

"Yeah, got a few of 'em still here in Hector, others had to be moved. Why, you thinkin' interrogation?"

"That's exactly what I'm thinking. Anyone knows anything about where he would have stayed here last time, it's gonna be one of them." Thrax explained, already standing up. I followed him with my eyes, concerned but agreeing with him. Ozzy flew to his feet and punched the air, saying something about a 'germinator', Chief managing to get to his feet with a grunt. A nervousness crept into me, making me clench my fists and look around.

"Are you guys..."I started, all of them looking at me as I combed back a few stray hairs, "...are you sure about this?" Ozzy gave me a confused look and asked,

"Whatchu talkin' 'bout?"

"I mean...you guys know how strong he was last time. Now, he's even crazier, and I just...you have to know that it's dangerous." I tried, pushing my hands into my pockets. Where I expected trepidation, Maria leaned a hand on the table, a fist on her hip, and smiled.

"Girl, you think we're just gonna leave you, huh? Last time we knew what we were gettin' into, and we know just as well this time. You say Pox is tougher now?"

"Well so. Are. We!"Ozzy danced, and Drix nodded in confirmation.

"No virus is gonna wreck this town on my badge time." Chief gruffed behind me, walking past and opening up the door. Their smiles were the same as they had been last time. Bright and confident and with no idea that what they were doing for me, I couldn't repay them. Then again, as I watched them exit the room, Thrax and I following soon after, I realized that maybe this wasn't entirely about me anymore.

Pox had threatened their home now, twice, and had put them in danger more than once without a second thought. Right now they seemed happy, excited to go into this, confident that they could get Pox this time. But there was anger under it. A lot of anger, especially in Thrax, but also in the others. And as terrible as it sounds, that filled me with relief. This time, at least, they were willing to take Pox seriously.

The holding cells were under the Immunity building, in a long grey corridor lit by a few overhead lights. There were about a dozen of them, all filled with different germs in various stages of waking up. Some were still sleeping, and rolled over grumbling when our footsteps echoed. The others grumbled threats, glaring at Ozzy as he passed them, giving them 'thumbs up' and dancing. He'd put all these people in there, then. I smiled a bit at that, seeing Ozzy with a new badge that looked a bit more official than his last.

We stopped in front of a cell about halfway down the corridor, Chief waddling up to it and rapping the bars with his knuckles. I stood beside him to see, a grumbling coming from within as, with a creak of springs, a large germ got off the bed. When he stepped into the light, having to stoop to fit into the cell, my breath caught in my throat. Trying to blink it away, trying to force air back into my lungs and tell myself that this germ was contained, that it had been three and a half years and I shouldn't be scared, I looked to the germ who had been one of the first I'd seen in the heart the moment our plan had gone wrong.

He was massive, like all Pox's germs had been, with muscles so large his elongated head had no neck. With a sickly purple skin and a face that went halfway to his chest, four eyes in sets of two, he looked at us and narrowed all four.

"What 'chu want, huh? My bail been posted?"He spat sarcastically.

"Yeah, you wish,"Snapped Chief grumpily, "we're here to get some questions answered about your former employer." He said 'former employer' with a sour look on his face, but it was nothing compared to the germ's, who scowled with the mouth near where his neck should have been. He spat on the ground near Chief's feet, but Chief didn't move. Hardened, he glared.

"What'chu wanna know 'bout Pox, huh? The slime ball left us all for dead when the warehouse went up in flames...hey, don't I know you?" The germ narrowed his eyes even further when he caught sight of Thrax, who slid back on his shades and gave an innocent look that didn't look right on him.

"Who, little old me? Nah." The germ didn't believe him, but Chief intervened before things could get worse.

"We're doing follow-up investigations on his case." Chief said, and the germ, losing interest in Thrax, laughed loud enough to make a few inmates grumble loudly.

"Follow-up? Whatchu gonna follow up on, huh? Sucker's dead! Heard it myself, fell through a 'virus expulsion tube' when y'all foiled his plans." He laughed every word, "I was there, too, ya know. Man, if that fool couldn't pull it off with over twenty of us, he never coulda done nothing anyway. All talk, no game. So, what's really the deal here, huh?" And then he paused, eyes widening as he, finally, caught sight of me.

His head whipped in my direction and I did all I could not to flinch, feeling Thrax tense behind me but refusing to reach back for him. I wanted to face this germ myself, squaring my shoulders and telling myself that I wasn't a scared teenager anymore. I fought the coil in my stomach and looked him in the eye, frowning as his eyes opened even wider and he took a step back.

"Yo, you ain't s'posed to be here! I saw, you and Pox..."A real fear flashed across his eyes, all four, and his hands balled up into fists. I stood still and silent, letting Chief speak because, despite my outward stability, my voice wouldn't seem to come out.

"Well guess what, this is our follow-up. Pox is still out there, and we need info on secret hideouts he might have had."Chief said, fists on his sides. The germ shook his head and said, voice wavering,

"Nu-uh, brother, I can't...it ain't..."

"I thought Pox was...what did you call it? 'All talk, no game'?"Ozzy intervened, the germ's eyes going to impossibly wide proportions and hands unclenching, shaking, looking all around as if Pox would jump out at any moment.

"M-man, he's crazy! I can't, if he finds out...!"

"He won't find out, germ, and you'll stay safely locked up in here...unless you won't give us info. Then I think you've learned your lesson and we'll let you free, on the streets, with Pox."Chief was grinning under his mustache now, and I felt myself relaxing, quirking an eyebrow at the germ who was now almost a shaking puddle of nerves. His hands gripped the bars and he shook his head, stammering,

"N-no man! You can't! I-I...the warehouse burnt down, but there was another place! He talked about another place to go, in case plans got backed up a bit..."

"Where?"Thrax mused behind me. The germ seemed to be wracking his brains, until he pulled himself closer and exclaimed,

"The Blackhead! That joint that our bomb technician holed up in, he said there was a room there where we'd meet up! Don't know how to get into it, though, he never said." I perked up, hearing 'Blackhead' and 'bomb technician' and feeling something bubbling up. Thrax groaned behind me, but I couldn't be happier to see an old friend again.

"Not The Blackhead..."He moaned, me looking back and smiling with him running a hand down his face, the others confused.

"Gina!"I pipped up, hoping she was still there, wondering if she would have moved on to another place by now. I hoped against all odds she hadn't. Strange first encounter aside, I liked her. She was kind under a snippy exterior.

"Who?"Drix asked, and Thrax frowned at me.

"Gina, an...old friend."He deadpanned, sighing and smoothing back his dreads while I looked to the others.

"I'll explain it later, but Thrax knows the way. Follow us there?"I offered, Thrax muttering something that I chose to ignore. When everyone agreed, I took Thrax's arm and half-pulled him down the corridor, the prisoner shouting behind us that we didn't get our information from him.

No, no we did not. And as happy as I was to see Gina, part of me worried that she was at the Blackhead.

Because there was a chance that he was, too.


	4. Chapter 4

_-Pox-_

The walls were expertly painted. The only thing about the room that held a sense of grace about it, like a gentleman in a mine field. A minefield. Well, wasn't that an accurate comparison?

_-Iris-_

"Are you sure this is it?"I asked, walking in slowly to the deserted building. It held nothing of its former exploits, and it was like walking into a different world. For a moment I felt like standing still and rubbing my eyes, thinking that I was seeing things and, if I just corrected my vision, the room would go back to a dance floor and sticky bar area.

"This is it, baby."Thrax mused behind me, just as uncertainly. It was like the former nightclub had been stripped bare, and they put a new building inside of it. Where once there would have been a stage, there was an unlit fireplace with large, lofty chairs in front of it. Where people would have danced, tables and chairs and bean bags now sat, the walls now paneled with wood and the windows cleaned and covered in heavy curtains. Even the bar had been changed, looking clean and fresh with machines that didn't look like they served alcohol. It smelt of coffee and books.

"Yo man, I thought you said this was a club!"Ozzy exclaimed, sounding dissapointed.

"It _was_..."I trailed off, looking around with a sinking feeling that maybe, maybe Gina wasn't here...

The door straight across the room, as if hearing my thoughts, slammed open loud enough to make us jump, and out walked a pale-purple woman, seething in rage with hair flying behind her.

"Hey! Can't you read? Sign says this place is clo-" She cut off, stopping mid-step and mid-word. Her voice almost echoed off the walls it was so snappy, but it was her voice, that voice she used to yell at Thrax. Those beautiful eyes wide, mouth open, hair now resting down her back and over a black t-shirt. Her look was shocked, eyes locked onto me and mouth moving to find words, but a feeling was bubbling up in my chest. It was like meeting everyone else. I couldn't hold in my excitement.

"Gina!"I exclaimed, taking a step forward. She blinked and shook her head, then looked back at me for a double-check. And then, finally, cracked a huge smile.

"Iris?"She half-asked, half-exclaimed, both of us moving in quickly for a hug. She squeezed me tight and laughed, me remembering the last time we'd met and wondering if Thrax had come back to visit, if she knew... She stepped back, but held my face in her hands, looking down at me and shaking her head again. She couldn't stop smiling, and neither could I. "Girl, I can't believe...man, Thrax told me you _died _girl!"

So he did tell her. I shook my head in her hands and said with an awkward laugh,

"Yeah, well...that's actually a very long story. I'll tell you, I promise, but right now there's something we have to find." She quirked an eyebrow and asked,

"What's that? This place, in case you couldn't tell, got a bit of re-decoration since the last time you were here."

"A room. I know it sounds strange, but we really don't have time to-"

"Actually, we do."Chief interrupted, and I turned, Gina wrapping her arms lazily around my shoulders and putting her head on top of mine. Chief was putting away a walki-talki and looking up at me with a stern look, "No one's looking for that room until reinforcements arrive. For all we know, there could be anything from a bomb to a mob inside of it, wherever it is."

"Woah, what are we talking about?"Gina asked, but I responded to Chief instead.

"But if Pox is-"

"If he's down there, then I really don't want you down there. Wait here, I'm heading back for them so those bozos don't get lost. No one moves until I get back you hear me? That includes you, Jones! Maria's in charge." With that and a stern finger shoved at Ozzy, Chief turned and left. Ozzy pouted, crossing his arms as Gina plucked at the strands of hair still loose from the bun.

"So, anyone wanna tell me why I got a not-dead girl, a virus, and a bunch of Immunity barking up my cafe?"

"Your cafe?"I asked, looking up and Gina smiling proudly down.

"Yep, bought it out after the nightclub went bust. I like this better, it's quiet and I make some money on the side. Sooo..."She trailed off and I realized that I still hadn't told her anything. For being uninformed, she was taking this all very well. Thrax was not so thrilled about her attitude.

"Yo, wanna un-drape yourself first, Gina?"He mused, frowning bordering on glaring. Gina looked over at him with a playful smirk, and Thrax's face dropped as he saw something in her eyes. Before he could move, Gina took my face in her hands and planted a kiss right on my cheek, lingering and then letting me go, tapping my shoulders and crossing her arms. I bit down hard on my cheek to keep from snickering at the look on Thrax's face as he grabbed my arm and pulled me to him, keeping an arm around my shoulders.

Ozzy was gaping, but Drix and Maria couldn't hide their sniggering. Thrax was tense, and I leaned against him before looking to Gina. I explained everything to her, from the pod breaking to following Pox back here, and then questioning the germ in the cell. She listened, nodding her head and sitting up on a barstool halfway through, resting an elbow on the now-clean counter. When I'd finished she paused, blinking and looking up at the ceiling. Then at me.

"You said that germ told you about some secret room in this joint?"She asked, and I nodded. Without a word, she tapped the counter and pushed off the seat, walking back into her office and leaving the door open. There was a moment's pause, and I looked back to the others. Maria shrugged, nodding that way. I shrugged back and, sliding out from Thrax's arm, walked towards the door. Behind me I heard them following, Thrax coming back up and secretly taking a corner of my sleeve between his claw and thumb, as if afraid that Gina would snatch me up.

I tapped my hand against his, and he repeated the movement.

In her office, Gina had rolled to the side a bookcase on wheels and was pointing a thumb back to a door behind her.

"You mean like this?" I paused, wide-eyed.

"...Yes. Yes exactly like that." Gina leaned over and opened the door, saying as I took a few steps towards it,

"This door's always been here, but I just put some junk down there the first time I moved in and left it. This place hasn't been walked in in...oh, seven, eight years?"

"Apparently more recently than that."Drix said with a worried tone, me looking down and seeing only a flight of stairs.

"Hey, Chief said we had to wait for him."Maria warned, stepping up. I looked back as Ozzy threw an arm around her and said, pointing at her,

"Yeah, but Chiefy but _you_ in charge, didn' he? So it's your call ain't it Maria girl?" She glared at Ozzy, Drix slowly removing Ozzy's arm with a pinch on the back of the blood cell's hand, and then looked back to us. I nodded down the stairs and said,

"Maybe there's a secret way out of here. If we let Pox escape, I think Chief would be more upset than just...you know...taking a quick peek around." Maria paused, arms crossed and huffing. Her foot tapped three times, and then she rolled her eyes.

"Fine, but five minutes! I'm not putting my badge out for this!"She snapped, but I was already on the second step. Thrax followed behind me, the concrete steps making muffled sounds with our steps. It was only when I realized there was no light that I got nervous. One of my hands, the bandaged one, scraped against the cement/cartalige wall beside me, following it and feeling for a lightswitch as we went farther and farther down. Eventually, realizing this staircase was much longer than anticipated, the light from above couldn't reach us.

"Yo, who turned the creep on down here?"Ozzy asked from far behind, but even his voice had a slight waver to it. I took a few deep breaths, listening for a sound that wasn't our footsteps, anything to say that were was someone down here. Every second, soon not able to see the step in front of me, I expected something to jump right from the shadows and attack, some kind of monster children thought up. Right now, I felt like a child.

Until something slid along my upper back. Any sensible person would have jumped, but I knew this hand, knew the sharpness of the fingers and the caress down my spine. A calm rushed through me, making me close my eyes and take a deep breath in. The heat against my spine, the feeling of his hand pressing to my back just enough to assure me he was there, but not enough to tip me over, helped me finally reach the bottom with a quick tripping shuffle.

"Yo, what do you see down there?"Maria called, others walking down and bumping into each other with 'oofs' and 'hey!'s.

"Nothing...hold on, wait, I think...Thrax, light your claw, I need to see this wall."I said, feeling something under my hand. With one of his hands falling from my back in case the light was enough to let the others see, an orange glow filled the space beside me and moved to my hand. The heat was poignant, and I heard the others shuffle a bit away from it. But I trusted it, letting it get close to my hand as he leaned over.

"...What's that?"He asked, seeing the black panel under my hand. I squinted at it, the glow from Thrax's claw very faint and barely giving me an outline of the panel. It was small, just slightly larger than my hand, and for a moment I wondered if this were a lightswitch.

And then I took my hand off and heard a 'click'. There had been a button on the center of the panel. Something dropped in my gut, and my eyes widened.

"..._Run!_"I shouted, just as another 'click' went off in the wall behind the panel. I turned and pushed Thrax, who was reaching behind him frantically for me, claw now un-lit and leaving everyone scrambling in the darkness as a quick series of noises sounded out below. I gripped Thrax's arm tight and slid my hand down into his, everyone scrambling and calling out, the stairs impossibly long. My heart pounded, one step behind Thrax, thinking we would never reach the top...

Then the doorway broke into view, everyone jumping through it as the sounds below stopped. Thrax must have felt it, too, because he yanked my arm forward and threw me forward like I weighed nothing. We made it through the door, landing hard on the floor beneath us, just as a bone-shattering 'BANG' rang out beneath us, shaking the foundation of the building and deafening me for a moment. My teeth rattled with the explosion, curling into something larger than me and squeezing my eyes shut. It was so violent that I thought my bones might come undone, curling tight and trying desperately to keep myself together.

Then the air filled with something gritty and light, dusting over us and making me choke on small bits. Something covered my mouth, a fabric filtering the air from my lungs. I reached forward blindly, a pain stretching over my ribs, and clung to whatever was surrounding me, hand bunching into fabric. There was the sound of coughing, shuffling and things being knocked around by feet.

"Open the door!"Gina shouted, and there were scurrying footsteps and the faint sound of a doorhandle. More coughing, but soon the fabric was removed from my mouth and I mustered up enough courage to open my eyes.

A blush crawled across my face, breath catching for a completely different reason than before. Above me, Thrax was hovering on his hands and knees, one arm raised that I suspected had been put protectively over my mouth. My hand was bunched in the fabric on the side of his jacket, quickly letting go of that and trying to shove down the butterflies in my stomach. He looked behind him to check for something, and then looked back down, ready to say something.

Except when he looked back I cleared my throat and looked quickly to the side, still on my back and still feeling a heat burn across my face. I waited, tapping the floor, for him to move, only to hear a chuckle from above me.

"You okay there? Lookin' a little-"

"Get off."I interrupted him, only making him throw his head back and laugh. Nonetheless, he pushed to the side and stood, reaching a hand down and pulling me up in front of him. I didn't look him in the eye, instead clearing my throat again and waiting for the flush to ebb from my face before assesing where everyone else was.

Ozzy was walking back in, him having opened the front door, looking like he just stepped on something painful. He was wincing, eyes flickering behind him worriedly, with Maria, Drix, and Gina all in the room with me. It wasn't until he stepped to the side that I realized he hadn't stepped on anything.

Chief was behind him, fuming with two other officers flanking him. If a white blood cell could go red, Chief was doing it, hands in fists and taking in a deep breath before shouting out,

"WHAT PART OF _DO NOT LOOK FOR THE ROOM _DID NONE OF YOU UNDERSTAND?!" Thrax opened him mouth to speak, but I elbowed him hard in the ribs, making him choke back his words and take a step away from me, massaging his side. Chief huffed and rubbed his temples, sending a glare at Maria and snapping, "I left you in charge for a reason! Jeez, in all my years on the force...so what in the Hector happened here?"

I jumped back as he stormed past me, the other two officers standing awkwardly in the doorway, Maria looking downright deflated.

"Hey man, chill. I knew this room was here, so I didn't think anything of it. No one's supposed to have been down there...but I guess I was wrong."Gina mused, hands on her hips and looking down into the pitch dark room. The dust had settled, and I saw that, as far as I could tell, the stairs were the only things blown to smithereens. The room was in one piece, so was everyone else, but cement and cartilage particles littered the floor. Chief sighed and looked down, shaking his head.

"Well, we gotta look down there."

"Alright! Last one down's a rotten cytoplasm-"

"NOT you, Jones!"Chief snapped, whirrling around on us and shoving a finger into Ozzy's chest, who had stopped mid-step. "You all have caused enough trouble today! Who knows what kind of evidence you may have just destroyed!" I guiltily slid my bandaged hand into the other, looking at the floor. "You two! Get your flashlights and ropes out, we're going down! The rest of you, wait out there!" Chief was beside himself as we all quickly shuffled out, Thrax muttering something about 'damn Immunity' and 'following orders' before following me.

Out in the other room, Chief slamming the door to Gina's office closed, we all took up seats at the bar.

"He better not break anything, that sorry sack of mucus."Gina muttered furiously, walking around the counter and pulling out mugs without anyone asking. I'd never seen someone brew so furiously in my life, tossing beans into a machine and starting it with angry jerks. If Chief didn't break anything, Gina might.

"So what exactly happened down there, huh?"Maria asked, sitting next to Ozzy, who was on one side of me. Thrax, on my other side, lightly brushed a hand across my hip before resting his elbow on the counter top. I cleared my throat for the thousanth time that night and laced my fingers together, cringing inwardly as I admitted,

"I was feeling for a lightswitch and...I guess I kind of brushed up on a button. I knew it had to be a bomb, that clicking noise was just too suspicious...sorry." Maria made a disconcerning noise and waved me off,

"Girl, I'm just shocked it wasn't Jones."

"Hey!"

"Gina,"Drix began as steam poured both out of the silver mahcine and Gina's ears, "do you think that a bomb could have been left downstairs from a...um...previous exploit?" The fact that no one here had ratted Gina out for being a bomb technician in the most illegal sense of the word was astounding, and knowing now that they were going to let it slide... Man. I'd missed these guys.

Gina stopped then, thinking with her hands on two steaming mugs, but shook her head almost instantly.

"Nah, nothin' down there but some old curtains and rusty tools. Nothing I've touched in years, anyway. Besides, Iris said it was put into the wall, had to be something done fast enough and in the real early morning if I didn't catch it."

"So we think Pox did it?"Drix's voice was low and concerned, and I stifled a shiver down my spine. It was silent for the moments where Gina poured cream into the mugs and passed them to us, cradling her own as she leaned against the opposite counter. I pressed my fingers to the ceramic mug, but the warmth in it didn't feel quite right. I wanted Thrax's hand, but didn't want to reach for it in front of everyone. So, I drank the coffee and tried not to wince at the bitter taste.

"Yo, Iris, I tell you yet about that Mononucleosis crime ring I took out a year back?"Ozzy asked, his voice changing the atmosphere and his smile bright despite the dark room. I blinked a bit, but shook my head. I could already feel the beginnings of a smile on my face. And, with with that, Ozzy launched into a huge recounting of his heroism in taking out the Mono crime ring, complete with gestures, Drix's input, Maria rolling her eyes, and actual reenactments by Ozzy himself.

At one point he jumped up onto the counter to show how he held one germ in a chokehold, and Gina started shouting about him scuffing up the counter, but she laughed the whole time and gave him a playful swat on the leg. I didn't know I was laughing until I leaned against Thrax, who wound an arm halfway around me and rested his hand on my hip, out of sight but still there. I looked up at him, and with his shades still on I couldn't tell exactly where he was looking, and with the mug up to his mouth I could only see the corners slightly upturned.

Everyone was laughing now, Maria calling Ozzy out on some of his crap and Drix shaking his head. But Ozzy was beaming, and the room had this beautiful light to it that didn't come from wires or overhead fixtures. I got lost in Ozzy's story, watching him go step-by-step how he infiltrated the base and took them all down(all fifty of them), face sore from smiling and chest tight from the light feeling pushing up against it. You don't know what happy times are when they're happening. But this was one of those times.

"Jones, for goodness sakes, there were ten at most and you were knocked out in the first fifteen minutes!"Drix corrected, Ozzy pausing and looking back.

"...Yeah, okay, well, maybe that's how _you_ remember it."He crossed his arms and looked away, still on top of the counter.

"Fool, I was there too! I carried your blue butt home!"Maria laughed, smacking Ozzy's leg. He huffed and pointed to Maria, about to say something when the door to Gina's office finally opened. Everyone silenced and looked back as the three men emerged, covered in soot and Chief holding one slip of paper.

"What's that?"I asked, turning around as Thrax dropped his arm, instead leaning back on the counter. Chief held up the slip of paper and said, slightly out of breath,

"Found this in a box in the wall, right behind the panel you must have pressed. It's just a set of numbers, but it's all we were able to find."

"Yo, hand me that."Gina said, walking around and taking the slip of paper from an offronted Chief. Thrax and I exchanged a quick glance, knowing Gina and Chief would duke it out in a second. He leaned over, whispering in my ear and making my spine tingle,

"Ten to Chief." I rolled my eyes and muttered back,

"You kidding me? I'm going Gina." Thrax scoffed and leaned back, muttering something about a kiss. I bit my lip to keep from laughing, quickly rubbing a hand along his side, that coil tight in my chest as I did. I knew how he felt about the last time we saw Gina, and I think Gina knew, too. It was fun, poking at it, but I knew when to let off. I saw him relax out of the corner of my eye as Gina examined the numbers.

"Are they familiar?"I asked, but she shook her head.

"Somethin' about them rings a bell, but I can't place it. And trust me, I'd know...hey, you mind if I take a look at this longer?"She asked, but in a move that I could have sworn was going to send Chief to the hospital, he snatched the paper from her hand and shook his head,

"No way! This is evidence, I'm not letting it out of the Immunity office!" Gina looked poised to kill, so I leaned forward and put in quickly,

"Chief, please, Gina's...um...she's smart. Really, really smart, and good at things like this. If there's some code to crack in there, she'd find it."

"Thanks, doll."She winked at me, but Chief shook his head, pocketing the paper.

"No way."

"But if it can lead us to Pox, who knows how long-"

"I said _no way!_"Chief snapped, and instead of Thrax or Gina, this time Ozzy had to step in to keep _me_ from jumping out of _my_ chair. An anger was boiling tight in my gut, fingers digging into the bottom of the seat. I knew Chief, I knew what he'd do to keep this body safe, but...I also knew Pox. I'd spent over three years learning his patterns and mannerisms, and every fibre of my being was screaming that we had to go nonstop to catch him, to stop him...

"Yo, Chiefy, no need to get hostile! Iris is just...concerned, see? What I think we all need is a good night's rest, yeah? We pick up back in the meeting room tomorrow, and Gina,"Ozzy slicked back his hair as he spoke to her, "you're more than welcome to join us." Gina looked at him and rolled her eyes, but I had a feeling she'd be there, too. Part of me was still tight, still itching to tell Chief that he was being ridiculous, that his anger was clouding his judgement...

But then worried that mine was doing the same.

"Alright, sounds like a plan,"Maria agreed, stepping down from her chair, "I'll call you."She said to Thrax, and then shoved a finger at him with a glare, "And this time, you'll _pick up the damn phone_." Thrax gave her a frown, and normally I'd step in, but I was still breathing through the anger in my chest. He paused, and then slicked back his dreads and mused,

"Yeah, whatever."

"Psh, 'whatever'."Maria muttered, along with a string of Spanish that I was pretty sure I didn't want to hear. Chief had stepped back a few feet, so I took the chance to jump down to the floor and say in a voice I hoped passed as non-hostile,

"I'll see you guys tomorrow." Ozzy trapped me in a quick hug, and then rubbed my back before letting me go, as if knowing. I was grateful for at least that, leaving the cafe with the others straying behind and breathing in the late evening air. Thrax and I slid into the car, and I saw a smile on his face. I rose an eyebrow and asked, suspicious,

"What?" He chuckled, reaching over and taking the back of my head. Without warning, he gently moved towards me and gave me a kiss that wasn't nearly long enough, just a few seconds. A heat spread across my face and something warm filled my chest, goosebumps over my skin. Just a few seconds. Age had done nothing for me. When he pulled away I tried not to look breathless, but a quick quirk in his lips made me think he knew.

"You were about to rip him a new one, huh?"He asked, almost proud as he sat back and started the car. I looked at him a moment, then laughed and shoot my head, still a bit tipsy from the kiss.

"You're a sick dude, Thrax."

"Oh, baby, the sickest."


	5. Chapter 5

_-Thank you sincerely for those who have left reviews, it means the world to me. This following chapter will have some heavier fluff in it. Enjoy-_

_-Iris-_

I'd forgotten what his apartement looked like. Forgot the shock that I'd face, going from delepidated buildings with holes in the ceiling to a beautiful home like this. It struck me in the face, making me pause at the door as he walked in behind me, shutting the door. I took it in, breathing it back in, walking back into a world I'd once loved. I stood there and, like a film projected on the front of my brain, watched quick and silent images of me and Thrax, of all the moments in this room over the short period of time we were allowed. Blurs of red and white, dodging in and out of rooms, happy and blushing and angry and crying. It was easy to place where we had been, what had happened when. The rooms were exactly the same as when I'd left for the last time.

"Yo, you gonna stand here like that every time you come in here, baby?"Thrax asked from behind me, and I smiled, shaking my head and turning to make a quick comment at him. But, the moment I got around, his hands were grasping my hips and he placed his forehead against mine, his eyes closed and breathing in. My chest seized up, breath catching in my throat and forcing myself not to plunge forward, to maintain some sort of maturity from all these years and hold myself back. But he was warm, so warm, and he smelt like ashes and old leather, and when I reached my hands up to rub across his face, his skin was still smooth.

"If it leads to this?"I said quietly, sliding a hand up over a sharp cheekbone to smooth back dreads, "Then yes. Every single time." He smiled and laughed low and quiet, a raspy kind of sound that made me want to put a hand on his chest and feel it. His hands grasped my hips tighter and he moved, kissing my cheek slowly, then trailing down to my jaw.

And if there had ever been a time when I wanted to shut my brain off, it was right then. Because a question came to mind, and I blurted it out before thinking of how out-of-place it seemed.

"How do you still have this place to yourself? You've been gone for years."

"Anyone ever told you that your intimate talk needs work?" I hit him, and he made a small grunting sound before continuing slow, slow kisses along my jaw, saying between them,

"Got places rented for years and years. Never know when I'll need them."

"That's tactical."

"Iris."

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

I would have scolded him or hit him, except right then he gripped the back of my head with fingers lacing through my hair and moved up, lips colliding with a silencing force. I couldn't hold back a shaky exhale, a prickling feeling flowing down my spine and unwinding the tightness in my chest, a massive release just as there had been last time. Forgetting any and all questions, I kissed back, gripping his jacket and pulling him impossibly closer.

He pushed back in response, suddenly desperate and the kiss harder, his other hand reaching up and, with a swift movement, took out the hairtye the was holding the last remains of my shameful not-even-close-to-a-bun. My hair fell down my shoulders, hearing him take a sharp intake of breath and combing his hand through, stopping at the back of my neck and craning my head forward for a better angle. My heart pounding, blood beginning to race, I closed my eyes and just felt.

I felt the heat from his hands, from his lips. Felt his heart pounding as I splayed one hand against his chest and used the other to take off one side of the jacket. Felt his hands and lips leave for just a moment, throwing off the rest of the jacket and hearing it land somewhere on the floor near us, the distinguishable 'clink' of the chain he'd showed me the first time I'd been here. Letting go for a moment, I reached my arms up and wrapped them around his neck, pulling him down and, this time, kissing him first.

I swore I felt a smile on his lips, standing there in the middle of the floor as he leaned down to me more, hands resting low on the sides of my hips. For a moment, I got lost in it, wanting to take this moment and use every bit of it, never letting myself think of an uncertain ending this time. I just wanted now, no fears of a future. Now, with him, just like this.

Though I'd kissed first, he was the one who eased my mouth open and trailed a tongue in, even warmer and leaving trails of heat through my mouth and over my own tongue. I felt myself try to remember to breathe, but couldn't quite grasp it in the thick of things. He was still better than I was, and he, like last time, took over. He controlled it, making my breath hitch and slow all at once, moving methodically and keeping me in a state of just feeling. His hands slid slowly up my hips, easing easily under the hem of the shirt and resting just at the edge of my jeans, thumbs moving up just as he bit my bottom lip.

I took a sharp breath and my nails absent mindedly dug into his neck, making him repeat the movement. He made a low sound and pulled me roughly closer, hands moving quickly up under the hem of the shirt and hands gripping my hips on bare skin. And I realized a moment too late that I'd forgotten something.

A severe pain shot through me, nerve endings on fire, and I jerked my face back and made a sound of pain.

"Argh!" My body had jerked to both move back from his hands and wrap my fingers through his grey turtleneck, the spasm quick but the pain sharp enough to leave me shaken. Instantly I drew in a breath, embarrasement dropping through my chest and into my gut as Thrax jerked his hands back and placed them on my face, making me look up into his face. His eyes were wide and worried, brow furrowed as he asked almost instantly after I cried out,

"Are you okay? What happened?" I had to take a few more breaths to both collect myself enough to unwind my hands from his shirt, and to throw together words to explain it. I placed my hands reassuringly over his, cursing myself for forgetting, cursing myself for ruining the moment. "Did I hurt you?"He asked, and something in his voice made me shake my head as fast as I could and quickly exclaim,

"No! No, it wasn't you, I just...oh, spit, I forgot that...I'm sorry, I didn't think it was important, and it never came up, and..."And it was embarrasing, and the only thing that could ever possibly make me want to step away from this situation. He waited for me to finish, and so I took a step from his hands and cleared my throat. My hands pressed to the front of my legs as I looked down, saying, "When Pox and I fell into the tube, it immediatly filled up with this gas...man, Thrax, it hurt..." I saw his face tighten a bit, so I pushed on fast, "The gas must have had something bad in it, because...um...there are some...oh geez, how do I say this..."

I was grateful that Thrax had undone the bun, because I had to run my hands through my hair in order to find the right words to say it. A fear twisted in my gut, deciding to speak to the floor instead of him.

"There are patches of skin that got burned a bit worse than others. And they're just really sensitive to rough movements, and it looks really strange, and I'm sorry." I said it all as fast as I could, wanting to crawl into a wall and hide there forever. The pain had only lasted a short spurt of time, but I felt like it had ruined whatever had been happening. I closed my eyes, hands laced on the back of my head and refusing to look up. There were a few short seconds.

I felt a soft weight on my chin and my head was tilted up, reluctantly opening my eyes. Except Thrax didn't look at me. Instead, he moved the hand lower and undid the top button. I tensed, taking in a quick breath and keeping my hands in my hair.

"Thrax, it's-" Then he kissed me. He kissed me in a way he knew would shut me up, that absolute jackass. It wasn't forceful nor particularly rough, but it was solid and unmoving and beautiful. I took in another breath and wondered when I'd ever breathe out, eyes squeezed shut and body tense, bracing myself like I was about to be hit by a truck. I didn't move to stop him, hands staying in my hair as, with soft and almost impossibly quick movements, he undid the buttons, all the way to the last.

The self-concious feelings flooded my body, both the normal ones and the ones caused by how exactly my skin looked. I almost cringed when he slid his hands to mine and pulled them from my hair without force, tenderly sliding the button-up shirt from my arms and to the floor, noticing his movements were extra careful on my skin. He was warm, so warm, but I didn't want him to actually see. When he pulled away I knew what he'd see.

With only a white sports bra, he'd see stark white skin. Except that there were spots on it tinted a light grey, a few shades darker than my normal skin. There would be a sharp-ended strip up my left hip to my ribs, a patch on my back, just to the right of my spine. The largest a spot that went from just above my jeans to the indent between my ribs, starting out as a blob and ending in many points, like a many-fingered monster had sunk it's claws in. There was a spot on the inside of my elbow, across my right shoulder, and then there was my left hand, still in the bandages. From fingertip to my wrist, it was all a very light grey.

Thrax hadn't moved, and I felt a weight on my chest, a crushing feeling that made me all but run for another room and lock me there. It didn't look good. It looked like I'd lost a fight with a wildfire. There was nothing abstract in it, you couldn't see a president if you squinted at one. It just looked harsh and violent, and I found that my arms were locked in place. If they hadn't been, they may have just covered me up.

And then Thrax's hands were on clear spaces on my ribs, and he all but threw me onto the bed, pushing me and lifting me until I flopped on my back, disoriented and confused. I looked up, only to see him pushing his face into the crook of my neck, placing an open-mouthed kiss onto the skin and making me bite my lip, still a bit dizzy and confused. His mouth moved down from there, his larger frame over mine and yet his hands putting no pressure on my ribs.

"Thrax."I breathed out, blinking while he moved to the area on my shoulder that was a patch of light grey. He said nothing, but paused and shifted. He moved into more of a sitting position, just over my shins, and leaned forward again, eyes half-closed and hands still. My hands gripped the sheets below me, stomach tight and churning...

It was, without a shadow of a doubt, the most tender kiss I'd ever felt. Ever would feel. It was so soft, barely even there, just resting in the center of the grey patch of skin. Coming from a man like him, who could snap most things in half with enough effort, something so profoundly gentle was shocking. And I couldn't hide the noise I made when I took in a breath, closing my eyes. His mouth sent a strange sensation along the injured skin. For the first time, it wasn't pain. That patch of skin didn't hurt, which for a long time was all it ever had.

It was like taking a feather over skin. Except it was his mouth causing it all over the area, a tingling from damaged nerve endings, and it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever felt.

"You okay?"He breathed onto the skin, and I heard him breathless, too. That was both uncommon and beautiful. I couldn't remember how to speak, so I just nodded and kept my eyes closed, trying to focus on feeling. He shifted down and placed a kiss down on the indent between my ribs. I'd remembered being scared the first time he'd down that. Now, three and a half years later, three years older, I was still terrified.

But it spread the feeling all over my stomach, the large patch of skin tingling and reacting to just one soft kiss. And he repeated it, trailing them down my stomach, his hands now moving. One on my left side barely brushed against the entire grey area, from top to the top of my jeans, his mouth still moving along my stomach. I didn't know if I were breathing heavily or not at all, but I did know that it was one of the two. Eyes closed, I felt everything, and I was so overwhelmed with so many different feelings that I hardly noticed when he moved back up.

His hands took mine from where they had vice-gripped the sheets and gently moved them onto either side of my head, hands slowly trailing up and pausing to kiss the inside of my elbow, then moving to my wrists. One hand slid under and removed the right-hand glove, my hand instinctively curling in, but his laced through mine and stopped me. Placing a soft kiss to those now-exposed fingertips, the warmth of his hands soothing my skin and still having left spots of warmth on my exposed skin, he moved to the other hand.

The moment he started to unwind the bandage, I bit my lip. The hand was different. It wasn't even spotted, it was entirely grey, that hand having been stuck between Pox's stomach and my back during the trip through the heart. He unwound it quickly and I heard the bandages fall somewhere, then his lips were on my palm, and then his hand took their place. No pause, no horror, just sliding his hand extremely gently into the hand and lacing the fingers together.

His mouth found my shoulder again and he pressed a kiss there, and I didn't realize there was a lump in my throat until I swallowed and felt it. I was so thankful my eyes were closed. It was almost overwhelming, all these sensations and then the knowledge that he was no, in anyway, repulsed. I felt it in the traces of heat where his mouth and hands had been, in the palms of my hands growing hot from his skin. There was a familiar spot in the crook of my neck and shoulder that he left an open-mouthed kiss on, and then, just as familiar, bit down.

I spoke through thin breath, panting and sounding just as breathless as I felt,

"If Maria yells at me...again...I swear..." I heard him chuckle, and then bite down just a tad bit harder. This skin wasn't hurt, it was normal, and the sensation of just a slight bit of pain made me hum deep in my chest, stopping it the moment I realized it had happened. Against the skin, Thrax smiled, moving up wards finally and kissing my throat, jaw, cheek, forehead, the corner of my mouth. I was about to reach forward and kiss him myself, when he put his forehead on mine and said in a quiet voice, as if others could possibly hear us,

"You're so damn beautiful."

I opened my eyes, looking as his closed ones, face almost overwhelmed and trying to look collected. I let those words fall on me, and took in a breath to keep them there. And then, without answering, I leaned up and pressed my mouth to his, sliding my hands easily out of his and pressing them to his chest. He rolled over easily, unlike last time where I had to find and opening. I kept my mouth on his as I reached my hands down and grabbed the hem of his shirt. He pushed his back up a bit to make it easier, and with that I slowly slid my hands up his stomach.

I felt muscles under my hands, felt smooth skin and warmth unnaturally hot. It took everything not to feel every expanse of flesh right there, focusing on getting the shirt actually off. We kept the kiss until we had to break, pulling the shirt up and over. I flung it somewhere with a bit too much force, and Thrax stifled a chuckle before I slid my hands back down and sat up a moment, straddling his hips and looking down.

Thrax was not conventionally beautiful. He had sharp features and yellow eyes and claws.

But the sight made me lose my breath.

He swallowed and ran a hand through his dreads, the other hand laying next to his head, mouth open and trying to hide his panting. Sharp features outlined on red sheets and pillows, flushed red skin and muscles shifting in the dimming light with each deep breath that was trying not to look like a deep breath.

"Sightseeing?"He joked, but his breath was as thin as mine. I slowly slid my hands up his stomach, fingers splayed out as if I couldn't touch enough of his skin all at once. I slid them up his sides and across his chest, to his collarbone. One of his arms was still laying with his forearm over his head, like he was relaxing. I went back and re-traced where I'd gone, feeling every curve and indent, trying to remember them this time. It was only when I reached his collarbone again that I registered that he'd asked a question.

"You're beautiful, too."

"You think a deadly virus is 'beautiful'?"

I paused, hands cupping the back of his neck and thumbs running along the chords of his neck, thinking.

"_Damn_ beautiful."I fixed.

"That's better."He muttered, self-satisfied. And I tried, I really tried, but the moment we kissed again we burst out into laughter, unable to hold it in. I shook with it, shaking my head and squeezing my eyes closed, feeling tears start on the corners of my eyes with the sheer force of our hysterics. I buried my face in the crook of his neck and he wrapped his arms around me, throwing his head back as he roared with laughter.

Maybe it wasn't even that particularly funny. We couldn't tell, emotions and sensations running on high, suddenly realizing how ridiculous we both were. He ran a hand up and down my back as we continued to laugh, the other keeping my face next to his neck. Our bodies were flushed and our lips were swollen, and we were laughing for two reasons. One, at how ridiculous we'd just been. And the other from happiness, boiling up inside of us. Because there was no threat tomorrow that we could think of. We just had tonight, and a meeting tomorrow. Almost like a real life. And it had never felt so real as when I was wrapped up in him, shirtless, and laughing until we cried.

After a few minutes we calmed down, wiping our eyes and breathing heavy, still holding onto each other.

"Spit."Thrax said in a tired, happy voice. I smiled and nodded in agreement, kissing his neck and throwing one leg off of him. Suddenly we were both tired, both still a bit flushed, and both not wanting to let the other go. Eventually Thrax gave in, moving and maneuvering covers over the two of us. In the contained warmth, my exauhstion suddenly hit me. It had been too much for one day, and the only saving grace was that I ended it wrapped in him.

He laid on his side, holding me to him in a hug with our legs intertwined and one of my arms under the pillow beneath our heads, the other with my hand on his chest. I felt his stomach on my bareskin, sighing in the sensation of a gentle warmth against the darker patches. I could have fallen asleep instantly, had Thrax not tapped on my back and gotten my attention. Face still buried in his neck, I muttered,

"What?"

"You know I wasn't lyin' baby."

"Hmm?"I asked, my mind falling into a half-concious stupor.

"You're beautiful. Spit, you got this...thing about you, alright? Don't never let anyone make you think you ain't, because you are." His breath ghosted across the hair on my head, and I pressed my palm flat on his chest, nuzzling forward and placing what I would later realize was a pretty sleepy kiss on his neck.

"...Even with the grey patches?"I mummbled, eyelids closing.

"Especially. It was gettin' hard to look at you before without shades on."

"Hrmph."

"What?"

I couldn't respond. He was too warm, and I felt too safe, and too happy, and it was too late at night. All the adrenaline had run down, and now all I could think of was sleep. He must have realized, because he chuckled and pulled me closer, stomachs flush against the other, feeling when the other breathed. I pushed my face into his neck and breathed out, his arm laying tired across me, placing one last kiss on his throat before feeling my bodly slowly slide into sleep, listening to the tandem of his breathing.

_-Thrax- _

It was silent. She'd fallen asleep fast, coming down from a high, and could barely place a feather-light kiss onto my throat before I could feel her finally sleeping. I saw the tops of her shoulders above the covers, our bodies too hot to pull them all the way up. Pressed together, I felt her slight frame, felt the heat I'd left on her body, seeing the end of a large grey area end in a point between her shoulderblades. I couldn't think of how they mottled her skin when I'd dropped the shirt to the floor. I couldn't fathom why she'd think that would matter.

I couldn't remember a time, ever in my whole career, that I'd felt more at peace than I did then. I had everything in the world right in my arms. There was still that voice in the back of my head, it hadn't left. This was ridiculous, it tried to tell me. I was Thrax, and I didn't mess around in anything permanent, let alone with another living, breathing person. Let alone with something as fragile as her. But she wasn't fragile, was she? And who I was had taken on a completely different meaning lately.

I could feel patches of cold all over my stomach and sides, up to my neck. Her hands and mouth had felt so intense that I could close my eyes and still feel as if it were happening now. Her palm right now, pressed to my chest, was enough to ease this feeling inside of me. Like she was keeping all the bad shit out, and it was just us right now. Because it was. And, I'd decided in a time long, long before right now, it always would be.

I kept my eyes open as long as I could, until they fell closed themselves and all I could do was shift impossibly closer, holding her tight until I fell asleep.

_-Iris-_

Something staticky pulled me from sleep. It was a noise, one I didn't recognize immediately, taking awhile to place where I was, and what that noise was. Slowly cracking my eyes open, reluctantly waking myself into conciousness, I saw a wall and a door, and a phone buzzing on a bedside table. Groggily, my mind took some time to put together where I was and why. I let out a breath and looked behind me, suddenly smiling as I saw a sleeping Thrax, his arm thrown around my waist and undisturbed by the buzzing phone.

The phone was buzzing.

Maria.

"Oh spit!"I whispered, quickly looking forward and reaching an arm out, barely reaching the phone and looking down at the outside screen. '10 missed calls'. My heart dropped in my chest and I wondered if now would be a good time to become a refugee again. Then realized that she'd find me.

Taking in a big-girl breath, I pushed myself up onto an elbow and flipped the phone open. The moment I put it to my ear, I knew this wasn't going to be pretty. Even for me, ten missed calls from Maria was going to get my rear handed to me through the phone(and then maybe in real life, too).

"...Hey, Maria, it's Iris."I said softly. Maria did not follow suit.

"And just where in the Hector have you two been?!"She snapped, me flinching and holding the phone a bit away from me, her voice screeching out of it, "Do you know how many times I've called? Ten! Ten times! How come neither of you picked up the phone, huh? Here I am, thinking something's happened, about to run over there myself! We got a loco crime boss all out and about and you two don't even pick up the phone?! Huh!"

I waited a bit longer, making sure she was done, and then pressed the phone to my ear and said in a quiet tone,

"Maria, I'm really sorry. We were so exauhsted last night, I guess the phone didn't wake me up until now. Do you guys need us? Is something wrong?"

"Psh, wrong? Chica, it's twelve in the afternoon! We're supposed to meet, remember?" I groaned and ran a hand over my face.

"Oh, man, I didn't know what time that was. Listen, I'll wake Thrax up and we'll be over in an hour, okay? I'm sorry." I heard her sigh on the other end of the phone, then Ozzy and Drix arguing in the background. Maria snapped at them before going back to me.

"Alright, girl. Just get here quick, I can't stand these two."

I hung up, flipping the phone closed and tossing it back onto the table.

"She sounded peaceful." I rolled over to see Thrax, his arm still around me and looking at me with half-awake eyes. I sighed and shook my head, running a hand through his dreads and explaining,

"We missed ten of her calls."

"I know."

I gave him a confused look, and he rolled onto his back with a smile, stretching.

"I woke up the first time, didn't wanna deal with her this early. She's always nicer to you-oof!" I rolled over and gave him a hard hit on the ribs, glaring and shouting,

"You woke up when she called?! And let me answer it? Oh you freakin'-" But as I was hitting him, he was laughing, taking my wrists and rolling so that I sat on top of him. "Stop laughing, I'm trying to beat the crap out of you!"

"I know! I know!"He laughed, both of us half-struggling with him holding my wrists above him and my trying to maneauver around them. I seethed, trying to stay angry at him and slowly failing.

"Ten calls, Thrax! Ten calls! What if something bad had happened?"I exclaimed, and he took in a deep breath and sat up, wrapping my arms around his neck and then moving his hands to pull me to him, preventing me hitting him anymore. I'd already given up anyway, instead huffing like a child.

"Aww, c'mon. Nothing bad happens to them unless we're there. But I'm sorry."

"No you aren't."

"Not even a little." He kissed my shoulder, the tingling spreading and making me exhale out the rest of my irritation. I kissed just under his chin and sat back, playfully pushing him as I slid out of the bed.

"I'm going to make breakfast. Try not to do anything stupid."I said, picking my shirt off the floor on the way. I grabbed his and flung it back at him, seeing him catch it in one hand and shooting me a smirk. I rolled my eyes, the smile not leaving my face as I pulled on the shirt and left it open, fingers not up for something as complicated as buttons right now.

"Is this the same bread as when we were here last?"

"It look it?"

"No, but who's re-stocking this place with bread, peanut butter and coffee beans?"

"I think this place is a rent-out. They gotta re-stock it with stuff, I don't know!"

"If this bread kills me, I'm going to come back and haunt you."

"Mmph."

"Don't you dare fall asleep again." I walked out of the kitchen, one arm balancing two plates of toast and the other holding mugs of coffee. Thrax sat up, the shirt still in his lap, and smoothed back his dreads as I handed him his plate and coffee. Sitting across from him with our knees touching, I mentioned, "You bit me." He looked up at me, confused for a moment, and then smiled. He sipped some coffee before cracking his neck and musing,

"It'll be covered, don't worry 'bout Maria."

"I am worried. It's Maria, she could have x-ray vision for all I know. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised." He chuckled, and reached across, pushing my hair from my face and putting a finger under my chin, making me face him as I finished the last of my toast. His head was tilted, yellow eyes narrowed and looking. A heat crawled across my face, and I fought the urge to look away from him and back to the mug held in my hands. He was silent for a moment.

"You were worried last night."He didn't have to explain about what, I knew. And I bit the inside of my lip, eyes dodging to the wall and shrugging. He tapped the bottom of my chin, looking back to see him smirking at me. "Baby, I'm not the kinda guy who'd care about somethin' like that. When I saw you, all I could think of was where to put my mouth first."

My face flushed completely red, but despite myself my mouth forced itself into a smile.

"Ah, there we go."He mused, leaning forward and placing a quick kiss on my forehead. He didn't lean back so much, but paused and lingered just centimeters away.

"Thrax?"

"I'm tryin' to think of something to say."

"How's the weather?"

"_About you._" I groaned and put a hand on my face, saying through my fingers,

"Thrax, if you compliment me again I'm going to overheat, and then Maria's gonna get angry again." He made an irritated sound, and I could almost hear him rolling his eyes.

"I mean...spit...I mean how I feel 'bout you, smartass."He muttered. I stopped.

"Oh." I reached up and took his hands, sitting back and looking down. Our fingers were laced together, coffee mugs balanced on plates balanced on our laps. Very, very pale white against a deep red. "We don't have a word for this, do we?"

"Nah, baby. I don't think so."

I looked up at him, that warm, jittery feeling in my chest, and smiled. I leaned up, not able to reach all the way but Thrax seeing what I was trying to do. He leaned down the rest and met me halfway, pushing into the kiss and breathing out quietly.

"I think this is fine."I whispered against his lips. He nodded. "I also think Maria's going to skin us if we don't get down there now." I threw in as I slid back and collected the plates. Once we were back together, shirts on and buttoned, Thrax's jacket and shades in place, we left the apartement. And, at the car, I snatched the keys from his hand before he could get in the car, sliding into the driver's seat.

"Yo!"He began to protest, but I gave him a look and said, pointing a finger at him,

"Not after last time. I drive."

"You even know how to drive?" I glared, and he held his hands up in defeat, "Fine, fine..." He slid in, pouting like a child and crossing his arms over his chest. To say I didn't get even a bit of enjoyment out of that would be a lie, even as I reached over and buckled him in. As I did, ready to head to the Immunity building, I could have sworn I saw a smile on his face before he turned to the window.


	6. Chapter 6

_-Iris-_

"You called us in to tell us that you have no idea what those numbers mean?" Chief looked at me for a moment, and then cleared his thoat and put his hands on his hips.

"Well, actually, um..."He paused, and Maria hit him with her hip. He couldn't have seemed more uncomftorble, adjusting his hat and frowning. Ozzy snickered behind me, me sitting on the table while he re-did the bun in my hair for me. Chief shot a glare at the officer, who ducked back behind me, before turning to Gina. She'd been there when Thrax and I arrived, leaning back against the wall with her arms crossed and a frown on her face.

Chief paused, and Maria smacked him on the back again.

"Ow! Fine!"He snapped at her, Maria smirking mischeviously and leaning back on the table next to Drix. I watched, Thrax and I flashing each other confused looks as Chief held his hands out in front of him. "Listen, I'm...er...I'm _sorry _for what I said in your cafe. And we decided that we could use your help, if you're so good at this stuff." Every word was pried from his mouth, but after he was done Gina cracked a victorious smile.

"Well, since you asked so nicely."She agreed, pushing off the wall and patting him hard on the head(she had a good foot and a half on him). "But, I'll need that paper and a computer, and you gotta let me work at my cafe."

"What?!"Chief exclaimed, but she held up a finger and stuck it in his chest.

"Hey, I still got a buisiness to run. Don't worry, if there's anything to them, I'll have the results to you quick."She walked past him, leaving no room for arguing.

"So what's that mean we're doing until Gina cracks that code?"Ozzy asked, still taming all my hair into the band.

"I don't want any of you causing more trouble like you did in the cafe. I want you out, but not doing anything too suspicious, got me?"Chief ordered, and I rose an eyebrow.

"Like what?"

"Oh, oh, oh!"Drix exclaimed, holding a hand up and bouncing in the air, "There's a large convention of harmless bacteria near the Vaccination Museum that I've been itching to go to!" Thrax rolled his eyes, but Drix seemed so excited that I was down to go if he really wanted. Maria rolled her eyes too, but smiled up at Drix in an endearing way.

"Yo man, I ain't goin' to some nasty, bacteria-con when we could be-"

"They have a dunk tank."

"To the icky carnival!"Ozzy exclaimed suddenly, grabbing my hand after snapping the band in place and all but yanking me off the table. He was too excited to wait for the others, dragging me across the room and looking over my shoulder. Thrax looked irritated, but all I could do was shrug and smile as the others followed.

But part of me, a part that grew steadily worse as we all crowded down the halls and into the streets, kept looking around at every face. Ever since last night, when Chief refused to let us search for Pox, knowing what he could do...I wondered what his plan was. Last time we'd figured it out fast, almost too fast, and didn't have time to plan. I thought that had been terrible.

But this, the doing what we could and the not knowing, this was by far worse. He could take out the body, but with his immunity to the vaccine growing steadily stronger, he wouldn't take himself out. He could just lie in wait, he could be a face in these crowds... My skin crawled, thinking of the fear I once had for this man. I'd run for years just to escape him, changed my whole life to avoid him. And now I'd run head-first into where he was, on purpose this time.

I was supposed to be older and braver. But now, I was just older. I was still scared of the man with the jaundice skin.

_-Thrax-_

"You've gotta be kiddin' me..."I groaned, looking around at the hoards of glasses-pushing, coat-wearing, comb-overed blood cells attending this 'convention'. I cringed inwardly, never thinking I'd have to go to something like this. "This is just messed up."

"You gonna keep talking to yourself or walk around a little?"Maria leaned back against the wall next to me, arms crossed and giving me a grin. I frowned and looked away, seeing a sea of people and spotting Jones getting Iris some sort of balloon shaped like a bacteria. They both made a face at it, and slowly slid it somewhere under the nearest booth. I kept my eyes on her as I spoke,

"This is a stupid idea. We gotta be out gettin' Pox, else this place is gonna go up faster than Frank."

"Faster than Frank _almost did_."Maria corrected, gritting my teeth and thinking of moving to Iris when she kept on, "That aside, we gotta have a talk, Mr. El Muerte Rojo." Inside, I thought of ten different ways to get out of this situation. I could leave, I could dissapear, I could get around to Iris where whatever talk this was wouldn't happen, and I could shut her up for good. In a few seconds I thought each out in detail.

But I ended up just standing there with hands in my pockets.

"Listen up, Thrax, you see that pale chick over there?" I didn't have to look hard, my eyes hadn't left her for awhile. With no answer, she kept on, "That's my little girl, aight'? She's just as close to me as to Jones and Drix and, yeah, even Chief. And we all lost her that night. You followin' me?"

"I'm listening." Albeit painfully.

"I'm bein' serious here. She's been through a lot. Sometimes she seems so happy that I forget her family's gone and she's all alone in this world. I forget that she spent her entire childhood on the run, and this guy's still out there trying to get at her. I forget because look at her. See that smile, see how content she looks? You wouldn't think that girl has suffered. And I was wondering why that was. Was it us, was it some strength she's got inside...

"It's probably that. But then I remembered that there's one other thing to this, too. See, I thought way back to how she was before, and then there's this one thing that changed her. This big, freaky virus that everyone was trying to capture."

"Your symbolism is touching-ouch!" She punched me harder than necissairy, glaring at her. She didn't back down, giving me a crooked frown as she went on.

"You want the gist? Fine. That girl's been through hell, Thrax, and you and her keep each other happy. But what I'm wondering is what happens when Pox is gone and all this dust settles. That girl's gonna want to do something good in her life, have some peace. What's big bad Thrax gonna do then, huh?"

She didn't continue. This time she wanted an answer, an answer I wasn't ready to give to her. I looked down and hoped that she'd look away and brush me off, but she kept there as still as stone, not afraid before and not afraid now.

"So?"She asked, and I couldn't hold her look anymore. This woman, who had no business in my choices, who didn't deserve to dig into it like this. I looked back into the crowd, but Iris was gone. Drix was still examining something at a booth, Jones was hitting on some lab-coat woman who looked about to strangle him, but Iris wasn't there. Taking my time to look for her in the crowd, Maria huffed and stepped in front of me.

"She ain't gonna chase some 'medical book' goal, you know that. And a girl like that doesn't roll with your lifestyle. Now I'm not sayin' that you can't do what makes you happy...but which is gonna keep you happier longer?"

"You never bringing this up again."I threw out absent mindedly, looking for a flash of white in the crowd. I felt her getting angrier, seeing her open her mouth to shout something. She never did get to chew me out for that, not when, just as she wound up her gears, something shook the ground.

With a noise just as loud as the one in the cafe, the ground jerked and a heat filled the area, followed in seconds by a huge cloud of fire and smoke. The entire area filled with smoke instantly, people screaming and the sound of cartilage breaking echoing through the walls of grey. Maria cursed somewhere to my side, but she wasn't what I was worried about. I ran forward, blindly, teeth gritted and looking for two people.

"Yo!"Jones's voice called out, just before he came barreling through the smoke and into me. I shoved him off, shouting,

"Jones! Where's Iris?!"

"Dunno! She dissapeared when my back was turned!"

"Spit."I muttered, turning and searching through the moving, thick smoke. "Iris!"

_-Iris-_

I wandered, giving Ozzy space to flirt with the scientist and Drix room to romance over a petri dish of bacteria that was rehearsing facts about tooth decay. There were a lot of people, but not too many to set me on edge. In fact, as I walked through large spaces with barey anyone casting a second-glance, it was almost like walking through water. A bit difficult, but refreshing. I didn't feel scared, I didn't want to cringe, I just...walked.

I didn't know exactly how far from the group I'd gone, just that I both liked the peace of mind and the feeling of freedom. A weight in my chest was lifted, for the time being. It was easy to move, to breathe, and I didn't want to think of anything that could tear this feeling away from me.

But I didn't have to think about it for it to be real.

"Wow."I said, looking at a bacteria that was explaining the spread of illness.

"Yes, I quite like this one as well."

I didn't have time to look behind me or call out. The hand wrapping around the back of my neck was too fast, and the forearm across my mouth that almost broke my nose was too strong. I was pulled into the shadows of an alley before I could even fight back, finally reaching the bandaged hand up to dig my nails into the forearm. My blood was pounding in my ears, a scream building up silently in my head, a sense of dread strong enough to knock me off my feet.

There was a grunt and the forearm left, only to let the hand grasping the back of my neck to slam my face foreward into the wall in front of me. A strange smell in my nose and a splitting pain on my cheek overwhelmed me for a moment, until my shoulder was grabbed and I was spun around. The back of my head bounced against the wall, but my vision stayed clear. And with my eyes open, I saw what had happened to Pox.

If his face was gaunt before, it was worse now. If his skin had a yellow hue, now it was completely and sickly yellow. His hair was greasy and thin, eyes wide and crazed, body thin and skin drawn tight. Skin. He wore a black vest and pants, and from what I could see, the gas had treated him just as well as it had me. His arms were covered in grey patches, reaching all the way to his throat. And, above that, a smile too wide for stretched skin, eyes too wide for the small frame they fit in. Pox, a thousand times worse than I'd seen him last, seething and smiling at me.

And for the first time, I wasn't afraid.

A surge of energy burst, and I kicked forward into his shin. Smile changing to a demented grimace, he released the hold on my shoulders. And I lunged forward with all the anger I had stored up in me, slamming him into the wall across from us and pulling a fist back, burying it in the side of his face. I was panting, not from exertion, but from anger. I was hitting him. Really, truly, I was finally getting my hands on the man that killed my family.

He ducked, now too thin to block with my body, and my fist connected with the wall. There was a cracking sound and I cried out behind clenched teeth, pulling the hand back and holding it to my stomach. I looked up to see him hunched over and grinning at me, the inside of his left cheek bleeding out a disgusting, black substance, dribbling into his fingers as he cradled his huge, toothy grin.

"Now that's not nice, dear."He whispered, voice half-hiss as he reached into his back pocket. I tensed, ready, heart pounding, "You're so violent now that they got to you. You used to be so precious...but you liked them, didn't you? Especially that virus. You two make quite the power-team, yeah?" His voice was an octive too high, his hand now hidden behind him.

"This isn't going to end well for you. You don't get any older than today."I warned, barring the exit with only a maze of apartements behind him. He stood straighter and threw back his head, laughing so loud I expected others to hear. But the common drone of voices continued behind us, and he collected himself enough to whipe some black blood from his chin.

"Iris, such the vigilante!"He breathed, "Dear I don't expect to die anytime soon. Not this time. It's your turn."

He threw something out in front of him, so hard that it whizzed past my ear and brushed my hair back. He was smiling when it went off. He was smiling when I ducked and curled up next to the wall, a ringing in my ears. And, when I saw him last, he was smiling as he retreated into the shadows, the bomb letting off a smoke that clouded the alleyway. I buried my face in my armsleeve, wincing as the fabric brushed against my cheek and curling up to avoid any dust filtering into my lungs. Eyes watering, I sat for what felt like forever, until the smoke began to thin.

Shakily I stood, eyes darting around for Pox but seeing nothing.

"Iris!" Thrax's voice cut through the smoke. I turned to it immediately, walking through wreckage and helping people to their feet as I went. I coughed through the thinning smoke, everything now a haze of brown and dust, outlines of people finally coming into view. "Iris!" His voice called out again, this time closer. I moved along, looking around, panting and desperate to tell him that Pox had been here.

"Thrax!"I shouted.

"Iris!" I turned forward to see him coming out of the haze, locking eyes for a moment before we ran to the other. I half-tripped on a piece of cartilage before slamming into him and giving him a too-tight hug, breathing in the smell of dust and old leather. He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me away for a bit, hands on my face now and eyes wide, looking me over. His thumb ran across a spot on my cheek and I winced a bit, saying before I lost my nerve,

"Pox. Pox was here."

He froze, mouth falling open a bit and a look of fury crossing over his face. His eyes flashed over to my cheek again, and I wondered exactly how bad it looked. I took in a breath, the dust beginning to settle, and said breathlessly,

"I'm okay, it doesn't-"

He didn't let me finish, kissing me hard with his fingers laced through my hair. It was desperate, thankful, and all-consuming. And I understood why. My hands grabbed his neck and pulled him down further, kissing back like I wished we could have three and a half years ago, after the last time I met Pox. His pulse was racing and his hands were clinging, our eyes closed and standing in the center of a bomb area, kissing like we wished we had. Like we were afraid what had happened last time could happen again at any second, this time for real.

"Ahem.."Someone cleared their throat near us, breaking reluctantly apart and looking over to see Ozzy tapping his foot, Drix coughing and looking away, and Maria walking up to the group with a white piece of paper. I ignored Ozzy and the pounding in my chest, focusing on Maria with one fist balled in the sleeve of Thrax's jacket, not ready to let go.

"What's that?"I asked, and she held it up with a tired face.

"New clue, flew by me, but it's a different set of numbers."

"We have to report that to Chief after we secure the citizens."Drix ordered, Ozzy shaking his head.

"Already got it covered. Phoned in some back up to take care of this mess."

"Then let's go."I said shakily, nodding. Their gazes became concerned, and I realized I was shaking. I tried to stop it, but moving my right hand sent a shot of pain up my arm and just putting more pressure on the scarred tissue of it was impossible.

"Yo, girl, you alright?"Ozzy asked,walking up and putting a hand gently on my arm. I nodded, trying to look stronger.

"Pox was here." They all jerked back a bit, but I shook my head, "I don't have time to explain, we need to get to Chief before anything else. C'mon." I turned, Thrax following and giving no one else room for error. They all ran alongside me, everyone scrambling as police sirens started in the distance. It was only when I got into Thrax's car, buckled, letting him drive with my aching hand in my lap, windows up and going a steady pace down the road, that I had a thought. "He knew we were there."

"Been followin' us."Thrax agreed. Suddenly a wave of nausea hit me, skin going cold and the thought of him in the shadows, of him being ahead of us, hitting me hard in the gut. I curled over, good hand lacing through my hair and groaning at the floor, eyes closed tight. My body hurt, my head hurt, everything hurt. I thought I'd be ready for it, and all I was was angry. He played us too well. We weren't getting anywhere.

A hand ran up and down my spine, a warm and familiar heat sending a feather-light sensation along my back. I tried to breathe through it, hating how pathetic I felt, embarrased. But he didn't say anything, running a hand lightly across my back and driving as calmly as I'd ever felt him with one hand. Eventually the nausea passed, but I was dizzy and didn't want his hand to leave. So I stayed like that, hunched over, until the car stopped and was turned off.

"You good to walk?"

"I'm nauseous, not dying."I tried to snap back, but it came out muffled and tired. There was a breath that could have been a laugh, and then I sat up to a better settle in my gut. We slid out of the car just as the others pulled in, Thrax's hand falling onto my lower back and not leaving until we made our way up through the building and into the meeting room.

Chief was already there, looking frazzled, with Gina beside him who darted immediately to me. Her hands rested on my arms and she asked,

"You okay? We got Ozzy's call. Spit, you all look terrible."

"Yeah, we know. Listen, we got this."Maria said, handing Gina the paper. She let go of my arms to take it, looking at it and sighing.

"Well, maybe I'll find something in this. It looks familiar, I just gotta look at them a bit longer. So you think Pox planted a bomb?"

"It was. Iris saw him." I didn't say anything, letting Maria talk and more thankful now than ever that she was. They said a few things that sounded like static to me, and then Chief spoke up.

"I'd hate to do this to you all, Hector know's we all need a break, but the mayor phoned in for you right after the emplosion. You think you can head over?"His voice was considerably softer, and I nodded.

"Yeah, yeah okay."

"Iris-"

"He needs to talk to us, it's fine. I'm fine."I interrupted Drix, desperately telling myself that same thing. They looked like they'd rather not, but finally Maria nodded. Thrax's hand found my lower back again as we turned to the door, me taking in a deep breath as Ozzy asked, walking backwards,

"He say what it was about?"

"Nope, but he didn't sound thrilled."Chief said, sounding tired. Ozzy groaned, turning forward, my hand still aching, hoping the man was wrong and that the mayor that I'd never met before wasn't in too bad of a mood. I couldn't handle it, needed rest as much as I needed to get my hands on Pox again.

"You ever met Mayor Spryman before?"Ozzy asked, and I shook my head, looking ahead in case the nausea came back. Maria scoffed.

"Well, chica, you're about to."


	7. Chapter 7

_-Hello everyone! So just something very quick: After this chapter or possibly the next, I'll be on vacation until the 11th. I'll update as soon as possible after then. Enjoy.-_

_-Iris-_

The office itself was spotless, with reflective surfaces and a huge window that took place of a back wall. The desk was clean and dark, the chair high-backed and leather. I'd never been inside a place so strickly business and formal, everything meticulously placed. Even the three scientists the stood beside the desk seemed still, if not a tad bit nervous as they ground pencils into their notepads. Nothing seemed out of place. Except the mayor.

"Jones! What took you so long?" It was a young voice on a young boy no older than sixteen years. His white shirt was disheveled and too large for him, along with the black pants that showed when he had his legs up on the desk, lowering them to properly yell at us. "I called ten minutes ago!"

"Yo, didn't you hear I was down in the blast zone, Spry? Sorry I didn't get your call while someone tried to blow me up!"Ozzy retorted, making Spryman frown and glare like a disgruntled child. When we were all in his line of view, he stood up and refused to direct any part of his rampage against anyone other than Ozzy, who stood like he was used to this.

"Blow you up? That's the seventh bombing in two weeks! Hector's getting cramps like it's no one's business! His mom's thinking of hospitalizing him!"Spryman shouted, and Thrax's hand tensed on my lower back. Hospitalization. That was a bad word to a virus. "And you know what, I'm about to let her! I'm expected to run a top-notch teenage body here, and you're ruining it!" Spryman whined and stomped his feet, as if he were more six than sixteen.

"Yo man, you can't let her hospitalize him! What if those docs find Iris!" Thrax cleared his throat, "...Fine, Iris or Thrax!"

"What do I care if we lose a few viruses? In case I'm mistaken, one of them's a hardened criminal!"Spryman shouted, and I quickly grabbed Thrax's arm as it fell from my back, feeling him take a step forward.

"One of 'em is right here."Thrax warned, and Spryman made a face at him that almost made me let Thrax do what he wanted. But this was the mayor, we needed his consent to even stay here. Turning back to Ozzy, Spryman shouted,

"I put you on the force to keep Hector safe! You haven't even made any improvements in this serial bomber yet, have you?"

"Man, do you even try to stay up to date with this place?"Ozzy demanded, stepping forward. I saw Drix and Maria flinch a bit, everyone tense as Spryman and Ozzy glared daggers. "We found out who this sucker is! It's Pox, that virus that _this_ virus helped take down over three years ago! He's back and we're workin' on a way to crack some code that'll lead us right to him!"

Spryman paused, mouth open with nothing to say to that. That didn't stop him, though, from puffing out his chest and screwing up his face, fists tight and looking like a child before an explosive tantrum. He shoved a finger at Ozzy, who didn't move from where he looked over Spryman. I'd never actually seen Ozzy angry before, his brow knit and looking like he was about to saying anything. Maybe that was why Drix and Maria were so tense.

"You better learn to speak to me better, Jones! I'm mayor, and if I say we go to the hospital, then we go! And if I say you're off this case, then you are!" Ozzy's face fell, and then cast off Spryman's finger in a way that made even the three science-coat wearing cells gasp and quiver.

"Take me off this case?! You gotta be jokin'! We're the only ones qualified to take down this crazy virus! We fought him once, we can do it again! No one else could-"

"That's why I'm not taking _them_ off the case! I'm taking _you_ off!" The room silenced, breathing almost stopped as Ozzy shook his head, disbelief and desperation in his eyes, "That's right! Maybe they'll get things done without you goofing off on this team. And teach you some manners!"

"Mayor-"

"No, Maria."Ozzy cut her off, seeing Maria's blue skin tinted red, Drix wrapping a hand gently around her arm to keep her still. I wanted to speak, wanted to call out and defend Ozzy and do something. He couldn't really be taking Ozzy off of this...that wasn't sensical...and Ozzy was one of the first people I'd started this with, he was the first face I saw when I came here for the very first time. Some coiled up tight and painful in my chest, seeing the man who reminded me so much of my brother, seeing that happy-go-lucky spark in his eyes suddenly darkened.

"Mayor wants to take me off, fine then."He slammed down a hand onto Spryman's desk, which the mayor had just walked back around. He jumped, glaring wide-eyed at Ozzy, "But he's gonna see that this isn't the kind of thing a sixteen-year-old teenie bopper can handle." His voice was angry and slow, and I was still trying to form words to speak for him. But, without another glance, Ozzy turned and walked slowly out of the room, leaving everyone numb and confused.

For a long while, everyone just shifted and looked around, then to the door. Even Spryman was standing and pouting like a child who refused to be wronged. And then, finally, when I thought about Ozzy walking down that hallway alone, I moved. Casting Spryman a glare he didn't see, I turned and ran from the room, out of reach of everyone and through the door. I heard a few calls but ignored them, skidding around the corner.

And running face-first into Ozzy.

I stumbled back, looking up at his attempt at a jovial smile.

"Hey there, took you guys long enough. I really thought you were gonna let me storm out alone."He tried, holding his hands out.

"Ozzy...I'm so sorry."I shook my head, running a hand through the hair that had already fallen out of the bun, "I should have said something. He was...you can't just-"

"Hey now,"He put his hands on my shoulders, smiling a bit wider and shrugging, "I get kicked off cases all the time. Besides,"He leaned in closer and whispered, "just because I can't be seen working with you, don't mean that I can't work with you." I was quiet, looking up at him and hoping that this was all some joke. I put a hand on his arm and nodded, him removing his hands to shrug again, somehow seeming heavier.

"We'll still get him. With you. You've been with me from the start, we'll find a way."I didn't say it as a question, nor left any room for argument. And Ozzy might have agreed, but everyone else came barreling around the corner just as he opened his mouth. Maria looked like she wanted to throttle something, with Drix carefully moving behind her to make sure she didn't, a worried look on his face. Thrax cracked his neck, muttering something about teenagers. I elbowed him to remind him that he'd met me when I was a teenager.

Maria suddenly went off, except it was in spanish and the only person who seemed to understand was Drix, who blushed heavily and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Maria, now isn't the best of times..."He looked to Ozzy, who had looked away from everyone. His hands were in his pockets, shoulders down, shadows starting to show on his face that hadn't before. I bit the inside of my lip and wanted to reach out to him, but didn't know what to say afterwards. "...I say we all go to Ozzy's place. First of all, I don't like the thought of us split up with Pox running about bombing everywhere, and secondly, it's a way to work on this in a way that Mayor Spryman cannot interfere with."

Ozzy tried his best at a smile that only ended up breaking my heart, nodding and saying offhandedly,

"Yeah, sure. C'mon, to Casa De Osmosis." Maria didn't even roll her eyes. We just followed him, silently.

Only Gia was missing, but I'd called her to tell her the news. I didn't know who was more upset: Ozzy or Chief. In the background I could hear him fussing and shouting, never expecting him of all people to be so distraught over Ozzy being kicked off the case. When I'd told him this, his mood brightened just enough to get him to sit up straight.

"Aw, I knew that old windbag cared."He said with a half-hearted smile, sipping coffee at the counter of his kitchen. His apartement had four rooms: Kitchen/living room, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. It was nice, a bit dark with only a few light fixtures, but very...Ozzy. Maria leaned back against the counter near the stove, looking at us.

"So, what've we got on Pox so far?"

"He's back with a vendetta against Iris."Drix pipped up. I shifted in the chair I sat on next to Ozzy, Thrax sitting next to me.

"He's slowy trying to gain a tolerance for the antidote, so he wouldn't destroy the body unless he had a clear plan of escape."I added.

"He's got his hands on some fancy bombs."Ozzy cracked his neck.

"Which he's putting in placed he knows we'll look. Which means he's probably stalking us."Everyone tried to look unphased, tried to hide their glances out the windows. We should have been safe, Thrax and me doubling back to check for anyone. That didn't stop Drix from dead-bolting the door and offering to stand watch all night.

"These bombs have notes in them, notes that either say we just got punked, or actually give us a clue. But why would he tip us off to where he was?"Maria asked, and I slid a finger around the edge of my coffee mug, watching it get cold.

"Same reason he let us find out his plan last time. He wants us to go there."I left out that, really, he wanted _me_ to go there. "So that at least means that he won't do anything to the body until we come face-to-face with him. We should be good for now, until Gina cracks the code."

"What would happen if we just ignored it? Stopped lookin' for him?"Thrax asked, and I shook my head.

"He'd either keep bombing high-occupancy places, or he'd do something to destroy the body and leave. We have to follow through."

"Well..."Maria interrupted, looking to the side, "..._we_ don't have to. I mean, if he wants you then there's some sort of setup, and if it's just us-"

"No."I shook my head harder, gripping the mug, "No, _no_. That's insain, if you trick him he could take all of you out on purpose! Then I'd have to go to him...I can't let you."

"Iris, if you go then you very well may feed into his plan."Drix tried to reason.

"I'm going. You can't keep me here."I had to let go of the mug before I broke it.

"Actually, if we wanted to, we could." Everyone turned to Thrax, who had one arm resting on the counter and facing me. Something coiled up tight in my stomach, teeth clenched. "Last time we played into his plan, and look how that ended."

"How that ended?"I asked, "It ended with me still alive and Pox gone for over three years! This time we could do better than that."

"Or not."His voice was final, shades off and looking me directly in the eye. For the first time I almost couldn't look back. "This time, he could finish his job."

"We could catch him."

"And he could still finish his job regardless."

I paused a moment, trying to control my breathing, and then decided that Ozzy didn't have to hear this. I grabbed Thrax's arm and pulled him off the chair.

"Iris?"Drix called.

"We'll be back."I called back a bit too harshly, pulling Thrax out of the apartement and to the stairwell outside. I pushed him in front of me, turning to him and saying in a quiet voice, "You know it won't work!"

"I also know I ain't ready to lose you again!"He snapped, out voices as low as they could get and still being heated.

"You didn't lose me!"I tried, "I'm right here! You just-"

"Didn't know!"His sharp response cut me off, "Yeah, I didn't know! And you know what that felt like? To be so sure you were gone? How would I know this time if it happened again? Do you know what those three years were like?"

"Do I know? Of course I do! I was away from you too, Thrax!"

"But did you think I was dead? No! You knew I was still out there! I didn't have that kinda luxury!"

"What else did you expect me to do? I tried looking for you, it was impossible! It's a miracle we even met back here!"

"And I ain't waisting it! You can't go. I can't let you put me through that again!"

"I didn't put you through anything! It wasn't my fault!"

Our voices finally shocked us, having gotten a touch too loud, our faces a bit too hot, words a bit too sharp. And Thrax, he knew when to quit. With a long glare that I finally had to look away from, chest swelling and hands gripping hard onto the windowsill behind me, he turned and stormed down the stairs. His heavy steps echoed until they were gone, and it was just me out on that stairwell. And for a moment I thought about sitting, about closing my eyes and waiting for Thrax or Pox.

Then turned and opened the door, closing it behind me to a room of concerned looks. Tired, I looked back up at all of them and shook my head.

"He's, um...going out for a walk."

"Yo girl, if he did anything-"

"He didn't Ozzy,"I said, at least relieved that he looked like he had his old spirit back. No one else spoke about leaving me or taking me, just standing and sitting around, discussing mundane things and going over old cases. I tapped the side of the mug and closed my eyes. I was tired. And, coming down off the adrenaline high, I felt a knife of guilt in my gut. It twisted against my guts and shoved deeper, making me take a sharp breath.

Thrax was right and wrong. We both were. And now I had to sit there holding cold coffee, a heavy weight on my chest. He was out there alone. I thought of the last time he'd done that, of our fight afterward, and then of what followed. It was almost as if we'd gone in reverse order this time.

"Hey, Iris, you alright?"Ozzy asked quietly, a hand on my back. I re-opened my eyes and looked around, nodding.

"Oh, yeah, just...tired. Worried."I admitted in the end. Drix straightened and asked,

"Would you like me to go look for hi-"

The cell phone Thrax left behind began to ring. The caller ID lit up.

'Gina'.

_-Thrax-_

I kicked at the rubble they hadn't cleaned in three and a half years. It stood like it'd burnt down yesterday, charred walls half-standing and bits and pieces of everything else laying scattered in the dark alley. My hands balled in my jacket, thinking about that night. That night was the first and last of too many things to forget, and part of me was alright with this heap of junk being left behind. I let out a breath, thinking steam should have poured out with it.

Wouldn't it have been so much easier if I hadn't followed up on her that day? If I hadn't stepped into her fight and just left. What would my life have ended up like? For a second I thought of the best-case scenarios. And then, just like every other time, I floated back to the idea that my life wouldn't have her, and that maybe on days where there was nothing to do I think about this hole in my chest and wonder why it was there. I'd never be able to fill it.

A streetlight flickered to my side, and a silouhette illuminated against a darkened Hector.

I snapped to the side and lit the claw, ready and thinking that I should have been more surprised, forcing myself to feel a bit more off-guard. But really, wasn't I thinking this the whole walk over here? That if I just found him tonight, this whole thing could be over...

"Now, now, I know what you're thinking."His head tilted at an odd angle, black stringy hair falling across yellow skin and a gaunt face. I'd never been creeped out before, but now was getting close. "I thought you'd think I was smarter than that. I mean, look at us!"

"I'd rather not."I growled, claw twitching, twelve feet away and so close... He threw back his head and laughed, holding an arm out.

"Now, Thrax, c'mon, I'm not here to fight you just like I didn't want to fight Iris this morning. That would be ridiculous. I saw her to see her. I see you, to speed things up. Now, I don't think you'd want to kill me when I can tell you what those little codes mean, do you?" There was a moment when I considered it, a moment when I could take two steps forward and it would all be done.

I didn't move. His smile spread.

"Good boy. Now, do you recall those numbers, or did Gina give them to Iris the first time they met?"

My blood ran sickly cold. I looked to the alley for a second, just a fraction of a second to consider running before cutting him down, but when I looked back he was gone.

"Spit!"I shouted, and then turned heel and sprinted as fast as my feet could carry me, shoving past bums and late-night businessmen that glared. The streets flew by, my chest burning in a way that wasn't normal, a prickling on the back of my neck that kept me going forward. I had to get there, I had to tell them, and Iris had to listen to me. Damnit, she had to listen, because there was no way this wasn't a trap. I knew it was, I could feel it, any idiot could see the signs.

The stairwell came up fast, and I didn't even know I was at the apartement until I'd slammed the door open, breathless, and shouted,

"The codes!"

"We know."Maria called back, jumping the counter with Drix and Jones loading their respective weapons. She threw me my phone as she explained, "Gina just told us. It's the code to activate and deactivate the bomb Pox had in the heart three years ago. I can't believe none of us saw this."

"Let's just go!"Jones shouted, sprinting out the door next to me with Maria following. Drix was last, and I turned and gripped Iris's arms as hard as I could without hurting her, looking her in the eyes and casting all pride aside.

"Iris, please, I'm beggin' you here...I can't lose you. Please, I can't lose you." She took in a deep breath, a scared look in her eyes. She wasn't scared of going or staying, I knew that. One of her hands reached up and grapped me by the collar of my turtleneck, bunching up as she glared and said in a measured voice,

"Don't you dare not come back."

I kissed her, hard, and went to the door.

"Don't open this for anyone! I'm sending Sniff and Sneeze over, they're it! No one else until it's me, understood?"I pointed to her and waited until she nodded. If I paused, I'd run back in and take her in my arms and hold her until she didn't look so scared anymore. Because she was so small in that room with such a fierce look on her face. That puppy that was kicked too many times was gone. I closed the door before I could turn back, and phoned Sneeze and Sniff in the car.

Then steered towards the heart.

_-Iris-_

It got to the point where I had to sit on the carpet floor, curled up with my hands in my hair and trying not to pass out. Sniff and Sneeze made hot coffee that I didn't drink but did keep in front of me, their hands on my back and Sniff fanning me with a magazine he found. I felt ridiculous, but my chest was too tight and my head wouldn't stop thinking about how they weren't coming back and all I was doing was sitting here, waiting.

"Shh, it'll be fine! Boss wouldn't let some stupid virus get in his way! He's tough!"Sneeze tried, but I couldn't respond. My breath was too thin, a panic attack grabbing at my lungs. They'd been gone an hour. The heart was fifteen minutes away.

"Uh, uh...h-hey! Did we ever tell you about the time Thrax got puked on by a Swine Flu virus?"

"Oh yeah! Or when he met us and didn't kill us because we were hiding behind a slushi cart and followed him until he couldn't get rid of us!"

"Yeah, he's such a nice guy..." They were trying, they really were, and if I could have gotten my arms to move I would have pulled them into a hug, snot and all, and sat there with them listening to their stories until the others came back. But I was locked into place, and though I managed to get my breathing back, everything was tense. I would have thrown up if I could have gotten my mouth open.

"...Iris? Are you gonna be okay?"Sniff asked worriedly. And that was what unhinged my jaw, what made me take in a deep breath like I'd been starving for air. Because damnit, I was better than this. My whole body still felt like it was shutting down, but I managed to lift my head and grasp my knees to look at them.

"Yes, boys. Thank you so much, I'm so glad to have you two. I'll be fine..." They exchanged looks, secret looks, and then looked back to me, both sitting on the floor alongside me on either side.

"Hey, Iris, we had a question."Sniff said, shyly rubbing a foot on the carpet and looking up with big eyes. I nodded to keep him going, anything to think of something else. Sneeze cleared his throat and motioned as he spoke.

"Wellll...Sniff and I were thinking...that Thrax probably wants you two to be together for a long, long time. And if he has you, then he's probably not going to be...as...bad, which means he won't need henchmen."

"And we were wondering if we could stay with you guys."

"Not like in the same house! No! But like, keep hanging around like we do now."

"Because we really like you!"

"And we like Boss!"

"So...is that okay?"

They looked up at me with these big eyes and shy little stances, hands clasped in front of them and pouting. Slowly, a smile slid onto my face, and I almost found it inside of me to laugh. But instead I smiled and ran a hand down my face, then took both of them and put my hands on their faces.

"Jeez, of course you two are staying! I thought that was implied."I breathed out, almost laughing. The both of them lit up and cheered, lunging forward and hugging me around the middle. Both were no taller than three feet, so it was like being hugged by toddlers. In fact, it was exactly like that. I gently hugged them back, thinking that if I had these two then I just might make it through tonight.

There was a sound at the door just then. The two of them froze, but I stood immediately and snatched the gun on the counter that Ozzy had left for me. I pointed it to the door, both hands trying not to shake as I moved steadily in front of it. My heart pounded in my chest, mind reeling, Sneeze and Sniff standing shakily behind me. The door was deadbolted, no way anyone could get in... Slowly, gun held in front with my finger on the trigger, I inched closer. When I was close enough for the gun to almost touch the wood of the door, I waited for voices.

"D-do you think...?"Sneeze whispered behind me. I motioned for both of them to stand back, seeing them scamper behind the counter. Then looked back to the door and shook, glaring, ready...

"...Iris? Iris, it's us!"

Thrax.

I almost collapsed right then, gun lowered and the other hand shakily fidgeting with the locks until, finally, I was able to throw open the door. They all stood there, looking tired but alive. One hundred percent alive and breathing. Thrax pushed passed everyone and pressed his hands to my shoulders, eyes wide.

"You alright?" I nodded, this time actually laughing, laughing with nerves.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. They kept me okay."I pointed back with the gun, forgetting I had it in my hand. He paused, looking at it, and then to me.

"...Were you gonna shoot that?"He asked incredulously.

"I...well...maybe?"I shook my head, and everything from before melted away. He laughed and shook his head, leaning over as the others came in and shut the door, looking tired and dissapointed but relieved.

"Maybe? Jeez, I'm glad we don't let you do the gun control."Thrax managed out, pulling me to him. I hugged him, breathed him in, laughed too. Up to the point of ridiculousness we did this, until I had to step back and hand Ozzy back his gun. Then ask the obvious.

"So...what happened?" Maria shook her head and pushed herself up onto the seat.

"Nothing."She said. I paused, one hand grasping Thrax's jacket, confused.

"Wait...but the codes..."

"Nothing was there. The old computer that the bomb was originally in was dismantled. Wherever the bomb is, it isn't in the heart anymore. It was a goose chase."Drix explained.

"But why?"I couldn't understand, Ozzy shaking his head.

"No clue. Gina's lookin' into the codes again for anything else but...man, I'm just beat. Can we please all hit the hay? We're findin' nothin' fast here."He pleaded, and everyone agreed without argument. Not in the heart. Not in the heart. I mulled it over as Thrax comandeered the first bedroom, leaving the second to Maria and making Ozzy and Drix sleep on the floor and couch respectively. Sniff and Sneeze had already fallen asleep on the kitchen floor.

He shut the door quietly and I collapsed onto the bed, putting my hands over my face and sighing. My head felt like it was full of cotton. A hand gently slid up my stomach, the sensation followed by Thrax laying next to me across the bed. Our legs hung off, not laying down horizontally, but I didn't have the energy to move. He put an arm under my head, lazily dragging a hand up and down the large scar area on my stomach. I sighed again, feeling muscles unwind for just a moment.

"You'll never guess what Sneeze and Sniff asked."I said quietly.

"Hmm?"He asked, pressing a kiss to my cheek. I told myself that I could feel that because he was alive, and it was silly of me to panic.

"They asked if they could stay with us."

"Why?"

I paused, suddenly realizing that this conversation was much heavier than I'd anticipated. I shook my head, hands lacing into my hair.

"Nothing."

"Talk to me."He pushed his face into the side of mine, kissing my jaw and waiting. I paused, scrunching my eyes closed, wishing I hadn't brought it up. Because hadn't we been through enough drama today? Now wasn't the best time. But he didn't budge, just kept waiting for me to speak. A nervous feeling rose in my gut, his hand still moving on the surface.

"They..."I started, taking in a deep breath, "...they just wondered if this...us...was going to last a long time. And if it did that...you might not need henchmen anymore." I didn't look his way, didn't say anything more. His hand stilled, and for a terrible moment I thought he was going to pull away.

Instead he wrapped the arm around my stomach and pulled me to him, speaking against my cheek,

"Ya know, Maria tried to talk to me about the same thing. I couldn't talk about with her. But seeing as how I'm not planning on letting you go again, this is one of those adult-relationship things we gotta talk about, huh?"

"I don't like being an adult."I whined.

"I know, ain't it fun?"

"...I don't want to let you go again, either. But what's that lead us to?"I asked, sliding my hands from my face and turning my head, him moving his back. We looked at each other very close, my hands resting on the arm around me, his other arm under our heads. Outside a car drove by and illuminated us, and we must have looked like something from a teen film. I blinked.

"I don't like the idea of marriage. But I like the idea of staying with you until we die."I said it matter-of-factly, not realizing things could be said that had been pushed so far back before. He grinned and laughed.

"I like the way you think. Ceremonies don't mean anything after what we've been through, huh?"

"Not unless it was crashed by a viral boss. Man, that'd be cool."

"You're twisted." I chuckled and nodded, reaching a hand up and smoothing back his dreads, resting my hand on his face.

"What about...your job."I hesitated, having thought of this in passing. His job was what defined him. He'd chased medical records for years, for as long as I could imagine. That was his thing, being a virus, a true virus with no conflicting morals. He did what most viruses did, and who was I to ask him to change who he was? But then I thought of living like that. And I couldn't. He paused, eyes looking easily into mine, and then looking over his shoulder to the window with no curtains, into the night of Hector.

"This place kinda grew on me. With you on Immunity, we could raise our freaky germ step-nusances in a relatively safe place." I paused, looking at him and trying to figure out if I was hearing him right. He looked back and raised his brows. "What? You don't expect me to join Immunity, do you? C'mon now, I might be bored, but I'm not that bored."

"Wait, you mean...but those medical books-"

"I got into them. Almost all of the big ones, baby. Broke my record awhile ago, got my shining moment. All that was missing was you."He pressed our foreheads together as I replayed those words in my head. Again and again until I got them.

"Thrax, you don't have to-"

"I know. I want to. Baby I'm bored, time to start running in a new direction. I'll find something to do."

"...Or you could be a househusband."

"You wanna try my cooking."

I bit my lip, tried so hard, but I couldn't help the laugh the came out. I stifled it quickly, knowing the others must be sleeping, and shook my head.

"Didn't think so."He said smiling, and for once...we had a plan. We knew where this thing was going.

"This feels so grown-up. We have job plans."I mused, kissing his cheek. "Well, I do. You'll make a wonderful trophy husband."

"Hey!"

"Shh! People are sleeping!"I whispered through laughter, making him roll his eyes and smile, sitting up with me. We pulled back the covers, kicked off shoes and took off shirts. Exauhsted, I fell back into the bed and laid my head back, Thrax tossing the turtleneck somewhere and following. I watched as he did, smiling and thinking that maybe, just maybe, I had him forever. He pulled up the sheets and pulled me to him, sighing.

"Man, I was so scared."I whispered to his neck, feeling his heat.

"Man, I almost cut Pox in two when he told me."Thrax agreed, muttering sleepily in an endearing way. I tilted my head a bit, whispering,

"What did he say?"

"Uh...somethin' like...do I still have those numbers, or did Gina give them to you."

"Hm."I nodded, sleep falling heavily over me. He was warm, and we were safe, and for a few hours we slept.

Until I was woken up with a start.

Sleeping, my subconcious had put together what my concious brain hadn't.

Gina.

"Oh my god..."I whispered, checking to see that Thrax was still asleep. Because I got it. I understood. And there was no way I could bring any of them into that, it was such a concentrated space, and why didn't I realize it before. I looked down at Thrax as I maneuvered out of his arms, seeing him sleeping in a bed we'd both been in, at complete peace with the world. If this was all I could see of him, then it was perfect. It was just a shame that we had everything planned out now, that made this so much harder.

I leaned down and kissed his cheek lightly, then stood and pulled on my shirt. I was sorry. I really was. But this was my fight, the messege was for me, and I felt that if they even stepped foot into that place then I could lose all of them this time. Lose them all for good. I couldn't do that, no matter how sorry I was.

And so, with everyone sleeping, I slipped out of the apartement and started walking.

The cafe was three blocks away.


	8. Chapter 8

_-Thank you all for waiting! I'm back from vacation and very excited to continue this story. It should be a few more chapters long, I'm estimating either three or four. Enjoy!-_

_-Iris-_

It wasn't lit, no signs flashing to tell me it was there. But I'd known it, couldn't mistake the building despite sign changes and color schemes shifting. The street was cold and empty, and Hector slept so soundly that it was impossible to think of a war going on inside. With hands shoved into pockets, I walked forward in the center of the street, just a few yards from the front doors.

"Now don't you learn anything about going out alone, kid?"

__I almost jumped out of my skin, stepping sideways as Chief came into view, arms crossed and a frown below the thick mustache. Against expectations, he didn't seem angry or dissapointed in me. Moreso, his face held a kind of amused disciplin, a frown that wasn't too heavy and raised eyebrows that weren't too shocked.

"How did you-"

"Please, kid, spare me. You don't think I knew you'd run back here to look for something when the others caught a dead end? I've been waiting for fifteen minutes."He brushed me off, my hands nervously clenching into fists and back out again in my pockets. I looked from him to the cafe, thinking of what could be just below our feet, of Chief so close to something so dangerous.

"Chief, you should go back to the station."

"...What'd you figure out?"

I didn't look at him, knowing that if I did I'd spill everything faster than I should have. I'd tell him how I was scared that he'd get hurt, and a bit scared of what I'd find, and embarrased that this idea may not even work out. Instead I looked at the ground and recounted what I decided,

"Pox dropped some kind of hint to Thrax that I think was meant for me. No one else knows. I think...I think Pox is in there right now, waiting for me. So you have to leave."

"...That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." I cringed, looking sideways at the cafe and knowing I was over reacting, knowing this was a horrible, terrible- "There's no way I'm leaving with that maniac inside waiting for you."

My head snapped up and I looked Chief in the eye, not believing that the one thing he cared about was...me. He didn't waver, no part of him mistrusted my conclusion. He trusted me wholeheartedly. That was a dangerous kind of feeling. I swallowed and regained myself, shaking my head,

"I don't want you to get hurt. I can't, really Chief." He raised an eyebrow and smoothed down his moustache, then balled his hands onto his hips.

"Well, I'm not lettin' you go in there without protection...so how about we say this: I wait out here and count to five minutes. If I hear anything before that, I storm in." The way he said it didn't leave room for agreement. It was an order, and all I could do was respond with a 'yes, sir' and marvel at this man's courage. I'd never met another organism, ever, that had the kind of selflessness he had. This was a man, alone, willing to take on Pox. I hoped I lived long enough to learn some of that from him.

I moved to the door with him, making sure he was waiting at the front window. When he saw me pause, he rolled his eyes and ushered me inside, whispering as I stood in the dark doorway,

"Hey kid, don't do anything you would have done three years ago."

I knew what he meant.

It had the kind of desolated feel that any building had that hadn't been stepped into in awhile. Nothing was disturbed, everything just a bit stagnant, sleeping or stiff. Chairs were turned up onto the counter, lights were all off, no dust had settled just yet to give any sign of disturbance.

But I knew he was there. That was the only thing I did know.

That, and that Thrax was going to kill me.

Walking across the floor felt too loud, the silence harshly disturbed even though I stepped as lightly as I could. Which, honestly, wasn't necissairy. He had to know I was here, or else he wouldn't have gone to Thrax and wouldn't have dropped that clue. Pox knew me, more than I found comfort in, and knew I couldn't miss that small insterted hint. Not after thinking it over, anyway.

I expected to be more terrified when I crossed the threshold into Gina's destroyed office. Debris hadn't yet been cleaned, and I had to duck under a yellow band of security tape to enter. Some pieces looked kicked to the side, some were splintered into the walls. And there, in the far left corner, was a gaping hole in the ground. I stood with my feet teetering over the edge of it, looking down and thinking about what was waiting down there for me. And I searched somewhere inside of me for the fear, but it was missing.

This didn't feel like my final steps.

With a resolution, I sat on the splinters of the floor, hands gripping what I could and feeling shards of floor through a glove and bandages. Waiting for a sound, I realized that below me was completely silent. For a flashing moment, I thought that maybe I was wrong and this was just a midnight, paranoid delusion. If that were the case then there really wasn't anything to be afraid of. But that itself was a delusion of embarrasing proportions.

I didn't let myself give a second thought as I pushed off from the floor and went plunging down into the dark. Hair flying out of the bun and eyes closed, I wondered how exactly hard this fall was going to be. My arms were above me for the split second that I fell, hearing the sounds of walls and broken stairwells fly past my ears, trying to remember how to get my feet under me just right.

The floor came up a bit too fast, but the sharp tingling in my feet left soon enough and I ended up merely stumbling backwards onto a wall, cold cement pressed to my hands and back. Eyes snapping open, I tried to process everything around me as fast as I could. Which, as it turned out, was unnecissairy. Because nothing around me was moving. There it was, the square cement room with an old computer against the right wall.

Except the old computer was on, a blue screen with white lettering that I didn't completely understand, casting a glowing light out onto the small room. Unlike last time, I could see the corners of the tiny square room, could see cracked cement and the scarred, black mark on the left wall that looked like someone had smudged a large black piece of charcole in a circle.

And I could see the man sitting in a chair across from me, pointing a gun with a glowing green tube insterted into the barrel. He held it tiredly, as if he were about to ask someone else to carry it for him, almost dangling out of the hand with an elbow on his knee. Hair hung in his face that looked terribly more gaunt than just this morning, and despite that he had a sleepy smile on his face. I searched again. The fear was still missing.

"It took you long enough, dear."

"If you wanted me here so fast, you should have come to me directly and left Thrax out of this."My voice was coming from a different person, someone much too calm and straight-minded for right now. Someone assessing the situation. Gun pointed at me. Pox, looking victorious. The computer.

"Oh but I missed him! It isn't fair that you get to spend every waking hour with him. Besides, if I told you then you'd tell the others and it would be this big mess. I wanted it like this. Just you and me, like old times. Before you got those others mixed into this mess, before they put ideas of grandeur in your mind that you could ever 'avenge' what I did to your family." My chest tightened, and I focused in onto him. Until he nodded his head to the computer.

"Look there, dear. I promise, I won't shoot."He held the gun more aloft, as if I wouldn't understand what he said. I understood, and I believed him. Shooting me wasn't the way he'd want this to end. So, slowly as to not seem too jumpy, I looked over to the side and back to the glowing computer screen. It seemed too bright with the room so dark, so squinting was the only way I could see the numbers on the screen. The numbers that were slowly ticking down.

It was at 2 minutes.

My hands twitched, thinking through scenarios that all ended up poorly for me. And then, as he let out a breathy laugh, finally one that didn't. He stood from the chair, hearing a creaking that could have come from either of them, and walked forward with the gun pointed considerably steadier in the hand. I remained standing, breathing through counts of five, reciting something in my head.

"It will be a shame that you couldn't see me in how I could have been, had you joined me those years ago. If you hadn't put up so much of a fuss, I wouldn't have had to get someone to persuade those pretty scientists to forget about me, and it could have been you and me with some disposables doing our bidding. What a beautiful kind of world-"

"So that's it."I stopped him, eyes flickering up to his. He paused, smile wavering, confused, but I went on. Something roared to life inside of me. "That's how you're adapting, you aren't letting the scientists keep track of you. There's someone else, isn't there? Someone still doing your dirty work. You never could do these elaborate plans on your own, you didn't have the skill." I shook my head, gears spinning, finally seeing something through a mess of guesses and fear.

He paused, then tilted his head and stretched the smile too wide again. His footsteps were dragged across the floor, so slow, painfully slow.

"Smart Iris. Always catching people when they slip, aren't you? So valiant. Yes, yes that's the plan dear. But it's a plan you can't imagine touching. It's laid in thick, layers and layers that you, even you, couldn't possibly imagine digging through. All you have is right now, so try not to worry your mind on those things. After all, I've set this lovely scene up for you.

"I thought that this would be a good way to go. Incapacitate you, then take my leave and watch your friends take what's left out of the rubble. It will be a great fire, just like your parents. My dear you fought me so hard, I'm sure that will make them at least a bit proud." Closer. He just needed to walk a bit closer, his footsteps frustratingly slow. I counted numbers in my head in tandem with the computer.

Thirty seconds.

"Proud that you will never actually get what you wanted. You failed in the end, didn't you? You wanted my help, but you'll never get it. You're settling-"

"Stop!" He snapped, eyes wide with fury and the gun slamming into my collarbone. Through the pain, I felt a rush of relief.

Twenty seconds.

Before he could say another word, spit fury at me with a gaunt face contorted, I slammed my left arm into his right forearm, sweeping it away from me. He held tight to the gun, but through the surprise he didn't have enough sense to fire it. I brought a foot up and slammed it into his stomach as hard as I could, sending the thin man stumbling back to the ground. He hit hard and groaned, twitching and stagnant for a moment.

And I siezed that moment. I ran to the computer and squinted through dim light, heart pounding and aware that he could, at any time, recover and shoot me through the back. Fingers shaking and muttering numbers I hoped beyond all hope that I had right. Hoping that this was the bomb, the bomb that Pox had removed from the Heart and put in a tiny cellar below a cafe. Hoping that the numbers were right. Hoping that I wasn't out of time. Hoping I wouldn't get shot in the back.

The first three were met with happy results. I slammed the keys until the numbers were drawn out and hit 'enter' so hard that I was afraid I'd broken it. The computer paused, there was a sharp buzzing sound that almost made me jump out of my skin, and then the time stopped. At five seconds. I braced shaky hands onto the back of the chair and let out a breath, trying to believe that I'd actually done all of that right.

Then a click, and a blast of searing hot something onto my left hip.

I cried out and spun around, one hand pressing to the searing pain in my hip, feeling something warm falling through my fingers, and slammed a foot down as hard as I could. I heard the crunch of bone on wrist and Pox let out a creaking cry, the gun falling to my feet. Stumbling and half-dizzy with the pain, I grabbed the gun and held it, shaking, to his face. We were panting, and the pain in my side was becoming nauseating. I didn't know what was in the gun, but it wasn't what I saw Ozzy use normally. This one hurt too bad.

"You thought you were really smart, didn't you?"I breathed down to a teeth-gritting, wide-eyed Pox, "Thought you knew everything. Except that Gina created a counter-code to you bomb last time. The very numbers you gave us that activate the bomb were also the ones that could stop it. You have nothing left."

"Just like you, dear."He croaked out with a stretched smile. I pushed my foot harder onto his wrist, his body turned to face me, and saw a look of pain cross his face. The smile never left.

"No, I have something. I have a lot of somethings. Things you can't take away from me anymore."The metal on the gun was clicking together from how hard my one hand was shaking, the other still pressed hard to my hip. Pox's eyes slowly moved up to me, and a calm washed over his face. After a moment of panic, he had that airy, victorious look about him again. The look that made my blood run cold.

"Oh yes, you do, don't you...more things left than you know."His breath was light and carried the words through the silent room. I had to remind myself to keep breathing.

"You're crazy."

"And you're blissfully unaware of one thing. You left so fast that night, you never really saw what happened, did you? The night I took 'everything' from you?" His hand twitched under my foot in a way I don't think he realized, smile slowly widening, eyes holding depths I couldn't fathom. "You saw the fire, maybe. But were you there for what happened inside? No, no dear...you see I was going to wait, I was going to tell you on your final breaths, thought it would be a kind irony. But since recent events, I think you should know something, dear."

"Shut up, I'm not going to listen to a sad old man hanging on by a thread."

"Kill me, Iris."He mocked, "Kill me. But did your family want you to do that? Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, thinking they're all dead. But Iris, think of this: I only know for certain that I killed two people in your family. The other was left to burn. Who's to say they did?"

Something rose up in me to fight hard against the words. A sensible part. A part that knew what he was trying to do. But everything else was too strong.

I stopped everything for a minute, and in Pox's defense, he acted very fast. The free hand suddenly latched onto my ankle and dug jagged nails into the skin, making me cry out and kick forward. But he was fast, too. Maybe faster than I thought, kicking up and raking nails across my shoulder, right where the grey area was. The pain blinded me and I tried, so hard, to hold onto the gun. But in a moment it was gone, and there was a blast of plaster and concrete, and footsteps running away.

The world tilted under me and I fell with it, one hand bracing me and my hip connecting with broken ground. Dust filled the small room, but not enough to choke me. Just enough to blur my vision, just enough to see a dark silouhette run through a hole in the wall. I blinked, then blinked again, until the dust almost settled and things were a bit clearer.

In front of me stood a tunnel, looking almost like a large drainage pipe, hidden behind the wall that Pox had blown through. Which meant he was down there, and I could catch him. I could still catch him. I just had to get my feet under me, everything had to stop spinning...

I only knew I'd passed out when I woke up. The floor under me was cold and stiff, and there was the sound of someone huffing and puffing to my side. I felt my eyelids twitch, blinking without separating. Then I tried my voice, with much better results.

"Where...?"

"Oh, jeez, you're okay. Sweet Hector, kid, I thought...nevermind that, I called the others. They'll be here soon. Now don't move, that's gonna need to be looked at." Chief's voice was breathy and, when I managed to open my eyes, I saw him panting and sitting on the floor, large face flushed and a rope next to him. I pieced together a bit slowly that he'd probably pulled my deadweight out of the basement, and since I was currently on the floor dreading moving with the already pulsing pain in my hip, all I could do in thanks was to put a hand on his knee.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."He understood. And then I remembered.

"Chief!"I exclaimed, trying to sit up to extreme pain. I grit my teeth and braced back on my elbows, casting a quick look to a sloppily and thinly bandaged hip. Something like cytoplasm was leaking from my hip. Lovely. "Pox, Pox is down there, there's this tunnel and he, he..." I paused, stumbling over words as I remembered exactly what he'd said to me down there.

I wouldn't let myself believe. That kind of hope was for children and fools, and I knew so, so well that Pox had said it in a moment of desperation. He was trying to catch me off-guard, throw me so that he could escape. And it had worked. I tried to shut the words out and stifle the hope, focusing on Chief. He leaned foreward and put a hand on my shoulder, shaking his head.

"No, lay down now! Pox will wait, I'm not getting my membrane handed to me by your rag-tag group if I let anything bad happen to you!"

"But he's-"

"Gone now. And he'll come back later. I want you in full health when he does."Chief's voice was softer now, eyes harder, words kinder. And I couldn't fight that side of Chief. So we waited, the pain in my hip reaching an almost unbearable level until, finally, the door to the front slammed open.

A cast of characters poured into the room: Drix with gun arm raised, Ozzy and Maria with real guns, Gina with a look ready to kill, Thrax with everything looking ready to kill, even Sneeze and Sniff came stumbling worriedly into the room. I cringed and waited for the onslaught of questions, honestly feeling that I might pass out again just to avoid their anger. I did sneak out in the middle of the night, only to wake them with what I assumed wasn't a calm call from Chief.

Thrax saw me first, and he was at my side before I could blink. Where I braced for words, I should have braced for the pain shooting up my hip, because without a word he scooped me up and stood. I grit my teeth and groaned, pressing the side of my head into his chest.

"Sorry, baby, no time for any fancy ambulance stretchers." I could hear an edge in his voice, like he was saying the words without hearing them, too focused on something inside. If everyone wasn't moving so fast, if Maria wasn't so loud telling Ozzy and Gina to stop asking questions, if everything wasn't so hazy, I would have reached a hand up and pressed it hard to his chest. To let him know it was okay. It wasn't. I just wanted to falsly reassure him of something, anything.

The ride to the hospital was a bit wavy. I blinked in and out of conciousness. I remembered Thrax's tight grip on the wheel, remembered Drix laying a towel down under me when the bandages couldn't hold all of the blood-like cytoplasm leaking out. I remembered Sneeze and Sniff crammed in the back seat with them, sobbing worriedly. I remembered wanting to reach over to Thrax, but then there was his hand in my hair pushing it back. But it was shaky, and his voice was too liquidy to hear. So I put my head back and waited for everything to clear up.

Then there was the hospital. A cold bed. An IV. Something cold in my arm. And then, lastly, there was a hazy darkness.

_-Pox-_

All the feeling in my right hand was gone. The tunnel smelt of sweat of grime. The air tasted stale and stagnant.

And oh, was I smiling at how sweet it all felt. By Hector, she'd won this time. If she hadn't, I didn't know what I'd do with the rest of everything. I couldn't just let it go, I had to perform the final act, but without her it would have seemed like an unwanted encore. I needed her, she was the push, the extra mile. I needed her in the rest of it.

For a moment I wasn't sure. For just a second, I thought that maybe she couldn't stop that bomb. But she did. Smart Iris. Precious Iris. Strong Iris. My old Iris, just a bit different. I hoped she'd be like that to the end. I hoped she'd keep that fire in her eyes until I put it out. I wanted to see it in the end, wanted to see her go down valiantly.

I didn't want all that running to mean nothing. For the both of us.

_-Iris-_

The wound was clean, without shrapnel or torn anything. Just a blank covered in something corrosive, melting through my skin. Once they removed it and cleaned the dime-sized injury, about an inch deep, they busied themselves with creating mitochondria-fake-skin. It filled the wound until my body would heal it for me. So, in just two hours, it went from a red, seeping hole to a thin-lined circle that a child could have drawn.

This didn't stop Sneeze and Sniff from sobbing so hard they had to be escorted out, leaving me with everyone else begging questions that I finally had the mind to answer.

"It was for me, just me. I couldn't think about what would happen if others showed up. I didn't know if he had something else planned in case I brought someone, to make sure that if I left, I left alone. Everyone was so broken up and tired, I just...it was stupid, I get that. Really, really stupid and I should have brought someone, and if Chief weren't there I'd be in deep. But...I was scared that he'd hurt you all."

Ozzy had his arms crossed, but his glare was wavering and Drix had already conceeded. He floated up next to me, sitting on the hospital bed cross-legged until the doctor came in to clear me.

"Iris, we were so scared. I understand you felt it was your duty, but if this is going to work we all have to stop working like individual parts of a whole."

"That's how someone gets hurt, chica."Maria scolded, leaning against the wall. I looked down and rubbed my pantleg's shin. Thrax didn't speak much, just frowned and sat on the bed next to me.

"What I wanna know is what went down there in the first place,"Chief ordered, "one second it's silent and the next there's an explosion! What'd you do to make Pox run before he could do...whatever it was he wanted to do."

I told them everything, from getting to the room to the bomb to Pox escaping into the tunnel. I only left out one thing, the thing I was pretending hadn't happened.

"Hold up, he's got some dirty-worker doin' some cover-up for him in another body?"Ozzy asked, leaning forward. I nodded, shifting on the bed.

"I think he's put someone into the body of a scientist, someone who could infiltrate and slide Pox under the radar. I mean, when you think about all the things a body has to do, someone modifying a personality trait that so specific...it could go missed so easily."

"Unless,"Drix said, "someone finds out."

"Hey Chief,"Maria pushed off the wall, looking past Gina to Chief at the end of the bed, something lit in her eyes, "wasn't there that one case a long time ago about some genius white-blood cell that figured out a way to let a body accept a virus, antidote or no antidote?" Suddenly Chief straightened up, blinking and looking around.

"You're right! And knowing Pox, he's just the kind of guy he'd hire. No loyalty, works off the hightest bidder, does clean work and gets out every time. We never caught him that time he tried to help the flu virus in during the Summer of '07. But can we be sure it's him?"

"Sure as spit we can! I kept up on his case, don't like lettin' rogue white blood cells go, ya know? Gives the rest of us a bad name, doin' somethin' sour like that. Through inter-body networks, I studied his patterns to make sure he never got back into Hector. A few years back, maybe two or three, he started leaving behind kids and moved onto bigger game. As in, major viral studies, white-coated guys. Must have been paid big money to do a job that dangerous."

"Two or three years ago would fit."I agreed, hands tightening on my ankles.

"We gotta go get that sucker then!"Ozzy exclaimed, "We get him, Pox hasn't got a chance! Even if he gets away again, he's got no legs to stand on!"

"It isn't that easy, Jones. We have to connect to the group of scientists body-network to see if there's been any changes, then to see if they'd allow us in, and even then he could still be on the move."

"Not to mention, we'd be leaving Pox in Hector if we ever left."I added quietly. Chief waved a hand at me.

"Forget that! I'll get to work on it now with Maria. Find the right body, convince them, bribe them, whatever it takes!"

"But Chief, you'll be here without us."I shook my head, "Pox would never wait, even if he didn't catch on immediately. You'd be in danger, everyone would."

"Kid, listen to me,"His eyes darkened and his mouth set into a hard frown, "I've been facing threats since before you were incubated. The day that I meet my match to a washed-up, hippie-looking virus is the day Jones gets a brain in that head of his. If you think you all are the only protection Hector has, you're wrong. We've got an entire immunity team here.

"And besides,"He raised a hand to stop my protest, "your mission to this new body could save us here. We leave this be, Pox could just come back again. This time, it's a promise that whatever happens, it's permanent. Besides, you're a trial member of Immunity. This is an order."

"This is a terrible idea."I deadpanned.

"All our ideas are terrible. Some are just less terrible than others."Ozzy muttered with a wink, but I still shook my head.

"Something's gonna happen, just...be ready for it, okay? If we do find this guy, we'll get back as fast as possible. Can you stay in contact?"

"Not between bodies,"Maria shook her head, "but we won't be gone that long. A rogue blood cell is like finding a needle in the middle of an empty room. We'll know him when we see him."

A knot twisted in my gut and I bit my lip to keep from saying anymore, just letting them bicker on until the doctor came in and ordered most of them out.

"Call me tomorrow."Maria said to me, blatantly not telling Thrax. I nodded and she gave a soft smile, something fleeting and rare, then ruffled my hair and left. Drix and Ozzy have too-tight hugs that made the doctor stutter something about internal injury, and Chief took Ozzy by the shoulder as they left.

"Jones, you come with me. I'm talking to Spryman about reinstating you on this case."

Ozzy blanched and then looked back at me. I gave him a smile, relieved that one thing good had come from tonight. I could hear him whooping and hollering all the way down the hall, and when the door closed and the doctor deemed me ready to leave, that I just had to wait for him to get final clearence, it was just Thrax and me.

I gripped his hand. He was shaking.

"I couldn't tell you." I tried, picking his hand up and clenching it tight in my hands, tucking it under my chin. He didn't look at me, just forward. And he was silent for a horrifyingly long time, so long I thought he was just waiting for the doctor. Then he puffed out a breath and said to the wall in front of us,

"You remember that time I almost crashed one of Pox's meetings? Remember how pissed you were at me? How I almost died and it would have been for nothing, how you'd have lost me and I hadn't even thought of that?"

I crumpled, putting my forehead on the hand between mine and feeling a crushing sense of guilt bear a hole down my stomach. I cursed, then cursed again for good measure. I remembered that anger, that tearing anger, that moment when he hadn't even thought of the reprucussions, that maybe his life extended past him. And I remembered, very clearly, my reaction.

I pressed his shaking hand between mine and let out a painful breath.

"...You're handling it considerable better than I did."I muttered.

"What if Chief wasn't there?" I closed my eyes and swallowed past a painful lump in my throat. His voice was too calm for his hand to be shaking this much. I took hold of his coat and pulled on it, moving closer to him and sliding my arms around his chest. I pressed my face into his side, closing my eyes and squeezing.

"I'm such an idiot."

"No, you've got too much goin' on in that head of yours, baby. Twenty-two years old and you still haven't figured how to think before you act."

"I didn't have time."

"We got time."He wrapped an arm around me and squeezed, trailing sharp fingers up and down my side at a slow, steady, and yet somehow territorial pace. "We got all the time in the world, remember? The rest of our miserable damn lives. Like a married couple without the marriage and all the misery."

"You make it sound so hopeful."

"Don't you dare think you can do this alone again."

"Okay."

"Swear?"

"Swear."

He let out a breath, and I felt the shaking smooth out, his voice never wavering once. I sat back, taking his hand with one of mine and running my other hand down the back of his knuckles, looking down at them while he watched.

"Look at me. I used to be feared, people used to tremble at my name. I was a bad virus, baby."

"You still are a bad virus."

He flicked me in the forehead with his hand, and I smacked it away.

"Smartass."

"Mhm."I agreed, laying back and taking his hand easily in my own. He gripped mine, humming some tune while he took off his shades to red-veined, yellow eyes. It was still the early morning, but it felt like days should have passed between now and the time when we'd lain down together and talked about a future, like people who still had one.

And it struck me right then that, maybe, we actually did.


	9. Chapter 9

_-Iris-_

Chief was radioing back and forth with Mayor Spryman, the rest of us in equal states of anticipation and nerves as we stood before the open windows of the Uvula. Hector was moving, walking calmly through a room during a field trip. I caught glimpses of white walls and large monitors as he spoke to friends, signs designating rooms for various uses. 'Virus Examination' was my favorite.

How Chief had convinced Spryman to go with our plan I would never know. How they managed to get him on the annual field trip to the local research lab, how Gina did research of her own to figure out which scientist was most likely to be harboring the rogue blood cell, how they got Ozzy reinstated, these were all small miracles that took place over the course of three days. Now we stood there watching all of them come to fruition, Thrax lazily tossing a pollen pod up and down in his hand. They'd come up with the plan of making Hector sneeze to move us when Thrax reminded them how he'd almost escaped. A lot of glaring went on.

"Baby, why'd you look so tense?"Thrax muttered next to me, lazily putting an arm around my shoulders and leaning down. I shook my head and let out a breath, looking over to where Chief was speaking gruffly into the radio and looking out the open mouth. "Ahhh,"Thrax realized, "you're worried 'bout that old dog?"

"More like all of Hector. What if this is part of Pox's plan?"

"Hmm, don't think so 'Ris. Remember, you're the star in all of this."

"Oh that's a relief. The homicidal sociopath won't do anything unless I'm there. Yay."

Chief nodded and turned to us with a snap of his heel, cutting off the walki-talki and ordering with a stiff brow,

"Alright, you've got thirty seconds until we're in front of the target! The other city's Immunity is ready for you through the mouth, understand? Don't mess this up, you gotta get good with them or we lose our permit to investigate. It was hard enough getting those white-coats to grant us permission."

"Yo, why you lookin' at me?"Ozzy exclaimed defensively, when everyone had collectively done just that. He paused, and then nodded, "Okay, I see your point actually."

"Fifteen seconds!"Chief shouted, and we all moved to the windows. Maria and Ozzy grabbed onto Drix, Gina and I took hold of Thrax's middle.

"Is this safe?"Gina asked as Thrax pulled and arm back and chucked the pod out into the open air, watching spores shoot out and slowly fall.

"No, probably not."I shook my head, both of us with barely enough time to latch our arms tighter before Thrax, with a chuckle that I almost didn't catch, hooked his hands and feet to his coat.

Hector's mouth opened, Chief calling something out that I couldn't quite catch over the sound of air rushing through the room, making me close my eyes and bury my face into Thrax's side. It whipped all around us, roaring as everyone tensed and stood teeteringly on the edge of the windows, chests tight and eyes closed tighter.

"Hold on!"Thrax shouted as he leaned forward.

"No, I thought I'd let go! I thought that might be a good idea!"I shouted back, but couldn't tell if he heard or not. With a jolt like the whole Earth moving beneath us, Hector let out a huge, deafening sneeze. The wind caught up under Thrax's coat and we were painfully jerked upwards, clinging on as tight as we all could to Thrax and Drix respectively. The sensation of falling never did stop, and I felt no weightlessness with my eyes closed and the feeling of breaking into cold, open air terrifying me.

The real issue that none of us could control was the time we had to get to the other body. It was up to Thrax and Drix to aim, but at what speed we didn't know. Afterall, we had precious few moments before Ozzy and Maria would start to coagulate. There was a tense air that caught in my throat and made my body go ridgid, barely concious of gripping Thrax maybe a bit too tight...

And then there was a dimmer, warmer atmosphere again. It had to have been seconds that stretched into hours that we'd been in open air, and now it felt familiar again. And I relaxed, for all of a few seconds.

And then we crashed.

"Ouf!"I let out as we twisted in air and an arm wrapped around me, feeling a jolt as we slammed into something solid and wet, skidding and bouncing for a few more uncomftorble feet. When we stopped, slamming into something and coming to a brain-wracked, messy still, I felt that all three of us had to take a moment before we could open our eyes, let alone speak. I blinked, looking up and around, seeing the familiar surroundings of the roof of a mouth and trails of spit down the sides of the teeth and cheeks.

And then, just a few feet next to us, was everyone else. Drix had come to a bit more of a controlled stop, but that still left Maria and Ozzy sitting on a tastebud and rubbing the backs of their heads. I breathed a sigh and saw that they looked normal, light blue membranes all intact, both of them nothing more than ruffled.

"Ow."I moaned, looking over to see Gina let got of Thrax as he unwound his arms from us. "Nice landing."I prodded his side as I stood, seeing him give me a face before reaching his hand up to me. I took it and pulled him up, then Gina, regrouping with the others.

"Well, that wasn't exactly luxury travel. But we're here."Maria tried, cracking her back and looking around.

"Yes, but where are the ones who were supposed to greet us? We did get the right place, didn't we?"

"We better have!"Ozzy interrupted Drix, "I'm not taking your crazy train anywhere else!"

"Well, lucky for you, you seem to have impossibly chosen the correct location."

Everyone turned to the voice, seeing one white blood cell in a white coat flanked on either side by two large Immunity officers. The head one, a good foot shorter than the two officers, was looking at us like someone would look at a dog licking it's own butt, the officers like they'd rather be anywhere else. When the finally stopped, Ozzy stepping forward and opening his mouth to introduce himself, the scientist cast away Ozzy's hand and turned his nose up to us.

"Well, I must say, I expected this team to be a bit less...rag-tag, if you will."His voice drawled distastfully, crossing my arms the longer I listened to it, "It seems as if your Chief of Immunity has oversold you."

"Excuse-"

"No matter,"He airily interrupted Maria, who was being held back by Drix, "you won't be here long anyway."

"That's up to this blood cell and how easy he wants to be found."Gina's voice was calm, but anyone could tell the sharp edge in the end of her words. Sniffing and pushing glasses up a crooked nose, the man folded his hands behind his back and straightened up. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from speaking, thinking of Chief's words. Even Thrax kept quiet, putting his hands in his pockets, even when the man looked from him to me to Gina with an obvious look of dissaproval.

"Hmm, yes, well, I doubt that anyone could possibly breach this body's security. We're leading in technology and services here in the City of Simon, so I personally think your trip here is a tad wasted. The only foul miscreants to enter our space would be..."He eyes the three viruses again, "...well, like I was saying, you aren't needed. But I'm not the mayor, am I? Simon knows you wouldn't step foot in here if I were." He mummbled the last part as he turned and walked down the tongue.

"Please follow us. Mayor Booster would like to debrief you on city conduct and the manor of your duties here in the City of Simon."The larger of the two officers instructed, the two of them stepping aside to allow for us. With a few quiet, heated words, our group moved forward and began down a path to the throat. As we walked, Maria discussing with everyone that would listen how careful we had to be when searching this body, I gave Thrax's sleeve two tugs.

"I already hate this idea."I muttered.

"Ya know, I could always-"

"Thrax don't you _dare._"I snapped quietly to him, looking forward to see that no one had heard. I could almost hear him smile as he shrugged beside me, saying quietly and with a bit of a loftier tone,

"What? I was just gonna suggest a mild temperature change-ouch!" My elbow found his ribs, keeping him pouting and muttering the rest of the way. And still, through complaining and huffing, one of his fingers still found my pinki, and hooked them as we trekked into the foreign city.

If Spryman's office was clean, Mayor Booster's office was the end result of a hurricain. Papers were scattered on the floors and tacked to the walls, vials sat on stands that were covered in stains and sticky notes. Chalkboards stood at the ready, long and complicated formulas written like another language one very available inch of space. Walking into the room was a careful endeavor, treading carefully over anything that looked like it could be important to someone.

"Sir, we have the visiting officers."One of the men with us announced to a chair turned towards the large window, the only thing similar to Spryman's office. It took up the whole wall, giving and unblocked view of the staggering city we'd walked through. Everything was miles away from how Hector had looked, from how any city I'd ever been to had looked. Everything was white or chrome, screens flashing and cars hovering and robotic mechanisms that did everything from washing cars to tying shoes.

The large chair swiveled around, and in it sat a surprised white blood cell with some sort of electronic pad in his hands. When he saw us, he stood, knocking over papers as he set down the device in his hands and beaming. He looked about Thrax's age, maybe a bit younger, with black stubble on his cheeks and clear hair like Ozzy, except it was in some sort of messy style that you'd see on a dad in a sitcom. When he stood he was tall and lanky, shirt wrinkled and tie slightly undone and stained.

"Ah! Wonderful! Thank you, officer. I'll take it from here." He seemed chipper, welcoming, even, which was a bit of a shock after what we'd been greeted with. The officers nodded and turned, leaving through the door quickly and leaving us to stand a bit awkwardly and off-guard in front of the Mayor. He clapped his hands together and made his way around the desk, beaming a full-watt smile. "I hope you were welcomed warmly, I've been anxious to get you all here after your Chief of Immunity told me about this apparent...threat."

"I wouldn't say warmly..."Ozzy muttered, but I stepped up to cover him. Mayor Booster seemed kind, I didn't want to come off that we weren't grateful for him even letting us in, cold welcome and all.

"Thank you for letting us in. This blood cell, whoever he is, he's linked to a threat back in our city."I explained, and Booster's eyes lit up, raising a hand into the air excitedly. I saw a pale, white scar up the back of his hand, stretching from his middle knuckle and under the sleeve.

"Yes! Who is he!"He didn't say it as a question, but an exclamation, then turning and tossing papers off the desk in a flurry of arms and crinkling paper. We all stood then, looking at one another with the same uncomftorble faces, shifting awkwardly on our feet. Ozzy made the crazy hand sign to me, and I half-heartedly swatting him for it. Booster seemed kind enough, if not a bit...eccentric. "Ah ha!" He shouted, brandishing a manilla folder and turning to us.

"I did a bit of research, and I'm sure you all know who this man is, but I just wanted to run some of his information for all of you!"He handed me the folder, still smiling like we were presents.

"Oh, um...thank you, that's very kind."

"Well I'm sure you'll want to get started right away!"Booster said, once again clapping his hands together chipperly, "So go ahead, I'm giving you free reign of our city, although I suggest that you begin with our department in the Brain. If he's anywhere, patterns all show that he'd be there."

"This is wonderful,"Maria said happily, looking relieved to meet a cooperative mayor, "thank you very much sir. Hector's field trip is a two-day thing, so hopefully we'll be done by tomorrow and out of your hair."

"Great,"His smile widened, and then dropped a bit as he laced his fingers together in front of him, "but I do have to warn you, our city has a cerfew of midnight right now."

"Why's that?"Drix spoke up.

"Well, we've had a long-standing criminal escape our prisons two days ago. It's nothing big, but we do want to keep everyone safe here in Simon City. I trust you'll abide by that?" Ozzy looked like he was about to say something, but Gina dug her heel hard into his shoe and smiled while he winced.

"Hey, we may even have the guy by then. No problemo, right guys?"She asked us, and everyone nodded in agreement. Except we didn't believe we'd have him by then, and a part of me was thinking that we may have had to leave before we could even catch whoever this was in the first place. Everything just felt too...rushed. Like we weren't prepared. Maria hadn't even had time to tell us this criminal's name yet, and now...

I clutched the folder a bit harder as Booster beamed at us again.

"Wonderful, wonderful, now if you'll excuse me I do have some work to get to. I wish you the best of luck, and feel free to contact me with any concerns. I'm always here!"He held out his arms to signal the office, and I smiled at him. He winked at us as we all thanked him and left, Ozzy complaining the whole way down that there was no way we'd turn in at midnight. Out on the sidewalk, Maria got him to quiet down just long enough for everyone to congregate under a news stand kiosk.

"Alright, let's see that folder. It's time we learned what we're dealing with, since someone was too busy to fill us in."Ozzy said sourly to Maria, who rolled her eyes and crossed her arms at him. I peeled back the cover of the folder and looked in, seeing a criminal offense sheet and a picture paperclipped to the top corner. Before I could read anything off, though, Maria took the folder and splayed it out to everyone.

"Alright, this is the guy."Maria tapped a finger on the photograph of a short, stalky white blood cell with his arms crossed and a frown on his face, a goatee wrapping around a chubby jaw and glasses on a flat nose. "His name is Genome, and he's crazy smart. Manipulates even the best of people, and in this teched-up city, I wouldn't be surprised if he coerced himself into a pretty high position." Below his picture and name was a list of about two dozen bodies he'd infiltrated, only to ditch out when people caught wind of him.

A knot formed in my stomach when I saw how long he'd been able to stay in some without detection, even with people looking for him. I wanted out in a day.

This was a lot easier when it was just me running, to get in and out in less than twenty four hours.

"Split up?"Gina suggested, but Drix shook his head seriously.

"No, not with that escaped criminal running around."

"Aw man, it's just one guy! I bet you money we could catch this Genome cat _and_ the runaway!"Ozzy smiled, smoothing out his jacket while his partner rolled his eyes.

"I'd take that bet, but you have no money."

"Yo!"

"I agree with Drix,"I interrupted, hands in my pockets, "if we want to do this fast, we'd split up. But if anything happens to one of us that's just going to delay us more. Besides, Booster said the main place to check was the Brain. No need to split up until we get into there, anyway." Maria shrugged and threw her hands up.

"Hey, why not? Besides, Mayor Booster wrote the number of the apartements we're being loaned on the back of this folder, and I know one of you'd forget it."She looked pointedly at Ozzy, who wasn't paying attention. My fingers picked at the inside of my pockets, an anxious feeling welling up inside of me. I thought of Hector, of how we had until tomorrow to catch this man and how Pox had until tomorrow to do whatever he wished inside of Hector. I trusted Chief, but I didn't believe that even our best efforts could stop a nothing-to-lose Pox.

I felt a hand on my lower back, leaning back into it as a familiar heat spread out. Breathing out and closing my eyes, I waited a few more moments before moving with the others, starting down the clean streets and past the high buildings and gleaming signs, thinking that there was a man here that could possibly, possibly, bring all of this to an end. That enough pushed me forward through the crowds and our bickering, into the Brain where we began our investigations.

_-Thrax-_

"Well that was a massive waste of time."

Iris mutely nodded her head, everyone standing out in front of a giant white, square building with chrome stairwells leading up to apartement rooms. Everything was white and chrome, and it was getting hard to look at, let alone stay in a place like this. Even at night, now as it started to get even darker than when we'd left the Brain, it seemed just a bit too bright. Maria huffed and crossed her arms, shaking her head.

"Well, we have tomorrow until five p.m.. If he isn't in the Brain, and the only sociopaths there were those desk clerks so I'm positive he isn't, then maybe we begin checking the Heart or even the building near the Spinal Chord. Tomorrow may be the day we need to split up, just because this guy can't get away from us."

"Aww, c'mon! Why don't we go look now! That guy could be bookin' it as we speak!"Jones exclaimed, throwing out his arms like a child. I rolled my eyes, not thinking we'd catch this guy any sooner with or without sleep. Besides, these past three days had been nothing but late nights setting this whole train wreck up, if we had an excuse to turn in early I was taking it, Jones be damned.

"...You don't think we could maybe look a little longer?"Iris. Damn, I kept forgetting her. Not actually forgetting her, but forgetting how much this meant. We'd spent hours interviewing, which meant Maria and Drix asked questions to apathetic nerds and Jones hit on anything with legs. Iris had been silent almost the entire time, and while I knew that catching this guy was huge to her, I was concerned. She was tense, this tint to her eyes that I didn't like, her lower lip firmly stuck between her teeth.

Pox had messed her up good, and that kept me going on this. That, everything else, and Iris, were the only reasons I'd keep going tonight if we decided on that. But, with the look on Gina and Maria's faces, I was leaning towards us packing it for the night.

"Nu-uh, sorry sweetheart. If we get caught past the cerfew, we can justifiably be sent back to Hector. And that would really derail plans, chika. Sorry."Maria's voice got softer at the end when she turned to Iris, who nodded and let out a quiet breath through her nose, lip still between her teeth. Jones pouted, but I didn't want to wait another second where Maria could change her mind.

"Well, if that's all well and settle, I gotta catch some shuteye."I mused, one hand absentmindedly finding its way to Iris's back and steering us to the stairwell.

"12 C!"Maria called after us, frustrated.

"Yeah, whatever."I replied, climbing the stairs with a near silent Iris while the bickering of everyone else began to fall away with stairflights. By the time we got outside the door, the key taped just above the handle, Iris had said a total of nothing. It took all I had in me not to pull her to me, to wait until I ripped the key from above the handle and roughly unlocked the door. "C'mon, baby."I whispered, looking out just out of reflex. Nothing but an empty street and the faint sound of Gina's voice below.

With Iris inside, I slid in and shut the door, looking into a white room with a bed against the left wall and some flat screen on the right. There was another door that I was too tired to care about, throwing my coat off onto the floor and kicking off shoes as I approached the bed. My bones hurt, my everything hurt, and I needed to know Iris was okay. She was taking off her last shoe, sitting on the bed, when I got to her and cupped her face in my hands.

She looked up, mainly because I made her, that lip still between her teeth. I had to fix that.

It wasn't hard, and I didn't even think she realized she'd been doing it, her mouth relaxing and falling partially open immediately. She was so cold compared to my skin, and maybe colder still from what she'd been under. That thought made my skin crawl and I stifled it, pulling her face closer. A bandaged hand slicked back my dreads and ran down the side of my face, her pulling back to look me in the eye. There was a smile trying to happen there, struggling against something.

I bent down and kissed her neck, hearing her let out an almost inaudible breath, and then sat next to her with an arm slung over her shoulders, feeling her against my side.

"So, what're you not tellin' me, huh?" I asked. It was one of those things we didn't have to lead up to. There wasn't any skirting around in this thing we had going on for us, we didn't tend to cushion our questions or placate answers. Finally, that was working out in my favor. Something, since the moment she'd gotten out of the hospital, since I'd gripped her so tight I thought I might break her again, something was going on in that head of hers. It needed to be pried out now.

"..."She leaned heavily against me and buried her face in my side. "You're gonna say I'm crazy."

"Baby, I'm gonna do that anyway." She let one huffed laugh out before looking at the wall, her face lit by the glow outside coming through the window. A lock of hair fell in her face from the bun that her hair couldn't stay in. She looked troubled, and sleep deprived.

"Pox said something when I was in that basement. And I think he was trying to get to me, I'm almost positive he was trying to get to me...but it's bugging me."She breathed out and stretched, my hand running a thumb down the side of her neck, down her arm and her side, tracing the little muscles and veins that moved when she did.

"What was that?"I thought of things he could have said, then decided not to when everything got too bad too quick. I didn't want to get tense, thinking about Pox and how close we might actually have been coming, this schedual being pushed and moved until it was unpredictable. She waited another beat, and then spoke like it was something she'd rather not admit,

"He said...that he only definitly knew that he'd killed two people in my family. That he wasn't sure about a third."

My teeth ground, something built up in my chest, swearing that I wasn't trying to let Iris know the kind of hot anger that flashed through me. Thinking about Pox, about how he dared to talk about her family, that sick bastard using it against her. I thought of how tired she looked, worried, stressed to a thin line, all because of him and his manipulative... I closed my eyes and let out a heavy breath.

"Baby, that's a nice thought, but-"

"I know, I know..."She interrupted quickly, and I winced inside, looking down and wishing I'd started this whole empathy thing a few years earlier. I wasn't good at it. Neither was she, but in times like this I wished that at least one of us knew how to handle a rough situation. She shifted closer and brought a hand up to lace the fingers through the hand over her shoulder, something she did absentmindedly. Her head had to be so full of things lately, she did a lot without thinking about it.

"...I'm gonna kill him."I shook my head into the darkness.

"Get in line."She retorted, and I wouldn't admit how relieved I got when I heard the little bit of Iris slide back in there. I made a noise to agree, just so that I didn't have to move my mouth so that I could duck down and kiss her temple. Her fingers squeezed my hand and she turned her head, kissing the bridge of my cheek and saying quietly, "You don't think I'm crazy?"

"Oh, I think you're crazy. Not for that, but you're crazy baby."

"Jerk."She pushed me lightly, wrapping her arms around my neck at the same time and leaning in. She was inches away, eyes closing, when our window tapped. We stopped, and though it was night and there was a loose criminal and it could have been a number of threatening things, our eyes opened and we frowned.

"Osmosis Jones, what in the hell do you want?"I deadpanned, leaning back as Iris stood to get the window. She slid it open, only to have Jones half step, half leak through the window like a slug. Once he was standing and back in a normal shape, my jaw set at him, he grinned like an idiot.

"I'm gonna go check out the Brain tonight, see what's in there that we weren't allowed to see." Iris conflictingly shook her head, holding a hand out to the window and saying,

"Maria would kill us! Besides, there can't be anything there now that we-"

Iris was cut off, a familiar noise blaring down the streets and through the now-open window. Sirens, accompanied by faint flashing blue lights, wined louder and louder up to the apartement complex. Almost as soon as they did, Jones's jacket made a buzzing noise, and he opened it and reached in to pull out a black, hand-held radio. Static filled it for a moment, and in that moment Iris looked from it to him. I sat back, putting my shoes on and smiling at what was going to come next.

"Ozzy,_did you steal a police radio?_"

"What? Me? No, of course not- yes, yes I did. Now hush!" I looked up to see Ozzy holding a hand out to silence a slack-jawed Iris, holding the radio to his hear and listening as a voice filled up the room.

_"Rodger, suspect is escaped inmate #487-09, proceed with extreme prejudice, over."_

_"Suspect heading down Vascular Street, intercept at nearest crossroad."_

"The criminal! The one that broke out, he's near here! C'mon, get a move on!"Jones exclaimed, rushing the window.

"Osmosis! We can't just jump into another Immunity's case, this isn't our-"

"Iris, girl, we can catch two criminals in one day! Report that one back to Chief, huh?"

"_Ozzy!_" She called after him, but he was already through the window and calling for us to follow him. My shoes and jacket were both back on, leaving me waiting for what I knew would happen. Iris couldn't let Jones out there on his own, and I couldn't let her chase him on her own. So I waited for a few beats, then heard her curse and begin to mutter things under her breath as she busied herself with putting her shoes back on. I fought a smirk once she'd finished, seeing her rush the door to get to Jones.

Behind her, watching her throw the door open, I leaned down next to her ear and felt a smile split my lips.

"Don't you dare say a word."She cut me off, and took off down the stairwell, leaving behind a feeling of frustration and my own amusement. I chuckled, calmly shutting the door behind me and following her down, chasing the sounds of police sirens and Osmosis Jones.

_-Iris-_

We caught up to Ozzy two streets down, and I pulled him by the collar into an alleyway the moment he was within arms reach. Slamming him into a wall and making sure Thrax was behind me, I stayed as still as I could until the sounds and lights of police cars had come and gone around the corner up ahead. Then rounded on Ozzy.

"What do you think you're doing?! If they see you out past cerfew, you could get us all kicked out!"I exclaimed, but only half-heartedly. I'd stopped being truly angry half a block back, part of me hoping that I could get Ozzy off of this criminal idea and maybe sneak into the Brain to look at things that, this morning, we might not have been allowed to see. Holding up his hands with a charming smile, Ozzy mused,

"I didn't get caught! Besides, got you out here, didn't I?" I let go of his collar and tried to glare, but ended up huffing out a breath and running a hand down my face. In his defense, he did get me to follow him. Whether it was because I was afraid he get himself shot was another thing. "Aww, see? Couldn't help yourself, huh? I know, I-"

"Do you remember where Vasuclar Street is or not?"Thrax interrupted him, and Ozzy pouted a moment before turning and looking one way out of the alley.

"This way?"It was a question, and one that made Thrax rub the bridge of his nose before joining Ozzy in looking out the alleyway. I stood behind them and watched, palms digging into my hips to relieve some pain after having fallen, none too cerimoniously, into this city. Thrax argued about where it could be, which direction the cars had gone, and I had to give him a lot of credit. I knew he was tired, we both were, and that he had probably been looking forward to sleeping for a few hundred hours. Hector knows I'd dragged him into enough late-night situations already.

But he was here, and he was trying. Even though Maria was going to kill us when we got back, even if she were still sleeping when we did. I imagined her the next morning, Maria-senses tingling and shooting all three of us a glare and demanding where we'd been last night. Throwing punches, cursing in Spanish, throttling Ozzy. I could almost see it now. And I would have almost laughed right then.

But I was cut off before I could, by fingers gripping my shoulder from behind with force enough to cause a quick jolt of pain.

All at once I was on the defensive, thinking it was impossibly Pox, spinning and calling out while I harshly brushed aside the hand and used my other to punch forward. I heard the boys respond behind me, but couldn't focus on much but the figure before me. Silouhetted by the dim light from a window high above, I saw a figure covered head to toe in a brown, rag-looking cloak. They were tall, but not too large to make me think they'd hurt me before Ozzy or Thrax could get here.

And with that, and a deafening alarm going off in my head, I spun and landed a kick into his rib area, hearing him let out a sound of pain as he stumbled backwards.

"Iris!"Thrax called out behind me as I quickly ran up to the figure, blocking him in against the dead-end wall. Ozzy ran to my side, his gun out and ready, Thrax to my other with a glowing orange claw held aloft. I was panting, not from exertion but the dead-stop my heart had taken when the person had grabbed me. Now, standing above him and seeing him cornered and sitting on the ground, hunched a bit, I was able to regain enough of myself to realize that this couldn't be Pox. He was too tall, and Pox wouldn't hide himself like this. That left one person.

"Ha!"Ozzy shouted, "Told ya we'd get him!" Ozzy whooped and kept holding the gun, the person straightening a bit and moving one arm under the cloak, a brown-gloved hand reaching for the wall behind him. "Yo!" Ozzy demanded, "Freeze! You're under-"

"Arrest, I know."

Taken aback, I blinked. Something rang in that voice, something a bit off-beat, something ringing a bell from something too long ago to recall immediately. The man(it was definitly a man, by the voice), slowly stood with a gloved hand against the wall.

"Just let me get rid of this thing, alright? It's suffocating under here, man." The man reached the hand from the wall to the clasp around the neck of the cloak, and my heart quickened. The voice was so distinct. I knew it. I_knew_ that voice. The man snapped the clasp and grabbed the cloak, just as my memory kicked in and did what it was supposed to do. I gasped silently, eyes wide and world stopping, just as the cloak was thrown to the ground without a second thought. "Ah, much better."

"...Yo, hold up..."Thrax's voice was all I could hear.

Because this was impossible. I dug a nail into my palm to wake myself up, I blinked, I tried to rationalize it in any way that I could, because...because Pox had just been trying to get to me a few nights ago. There was no way he was telling the truth.

The pale man wouldn't look away from me, and no one moved while they waited. I looked at the man with my heart stopped and my chest seized up, telling myself I was crazy. Because this was impossible.

"..._Ian?_"


	10. Chapter 10

_-Iris-_

"I can explain."His smile stretched his words, and it was more of an offer than an actual promise. I blinked, I dug the nail deeper into my palm, but he was still there. He was leaning against the wall behind him, and arm still precariously over his ribs, eyes flickering from the boys behind me to me. I shook my head, pushing hair from my face to see him, to make sure that I wasn't just mistaking a man for the brother that was dead. Was supposed to be dead.

"You can't..."I tried, but couldn't sort words out in my head.

"Iris?" It reached his eyes, that smile. Made them crinkle, made grey go a bit lighter, made creases in his forehead. A smile that seemed so strangely foreign now, like coming back to a home after a long time away. I knew it once, it had smiled at me every day once, and I used to be able to recall it perfectly. Now, though, I needed this smile right now to even grab small bits of how it had been.

Hair was trimmed to his ears, stubble dotted his chin and cheeks, new wrinkles were just starting to pop up, and he was a breath taller now. He was thirty years old, now. Which was strange when I realized that, in my head, he'd never gotten past seventeen. Surreal, I thought, to see the grown-up version of a dead person. A dead person. But he was standing there, breathing, smiling, everyone waiting while I tried to remember how to breathe again.

I reached a hand out, just to feel if he were real, to make sure he was solid. I thought it was silly that part of me was waiting for my hand to phase right through him, childish to expect him to turn into vapor and seep through a grate in the ground like he'd never been there. But I still jumped a bit when he took his hand from his hip and slid it into mine. Solid.

Cold, rough, but solid.

"_Ian_." His hand gripped mine and he leaned down to me a bit, tilting his head and still beaming.

"Yeah?"

"Ian!" I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him in, wrapping an arm around him and keeping his hand in mind, just to remind myself that he wasn't a ghost of someone I knew once. I heard him laugh, really laugh, and for a few seconds we were back before everything happened. I let out a heavy breath, resting my head on his shoulder, feeling a back that was bonier than I'd last seen.

"Hey, hey now!"He laughed, pulling me back and taking his hand from mine, holding me by the shoulders. He was older now, much older, but under layers of years there was Ian. Ian, who was impossibly standing before me.

"Spit, man, this is crazy."Ozzy said behind me, and Ian looked up to him with a smile.

"Tell me about it."He agreed, and I stepped back a bit to see him easier.

"Thirteen years."I shook my head, and Ian ran a hand through his hair with a small laugh, looking to each of us with a gaze lingering on Thrax.

"Yeah, I know I have to explain a lot. I really do...but could we do it somewhere that cops aren't looking for me? Getting arrested again would put such a damper on this." I didn't want to. I wanted answer now, justifiably so. But behind me more sirens came, louder with voices shouting out of windows and Ozzy's police radio buzzing noisily in his pocket. I looked back to the entrance of the alley, watched cars blur past us, eventually leaving in a disturbed silence.

"Wait..."I paused, realizing something, "you got arrested?!" I spun to him, but had hands on my shoulders the immeditely spun me back around.

"Not the point! We just got reunited, and I've been planning this whole explanation for years!"

I saw the looks on Ozzy and Thrax's faces, the shock and uncertainty, looking at Ian warily and Thrax trying to look between the two of us, brows drawn. I wanted to reach out to him, take his hand out of instinct, but kept it to myself. Everything seemed a bit too...surreal at the moment. I felt that something should hurt more, that I should feel more, but something was holding it all back. There was this band around a swelling in my chest, keeping me from breaking down.

Ian was alive. All I felt was a crippling sense of relief that made it difficult to take the first few steps. I kept looking behind me, making sure he was there. Really there. I kept thinking, moving through the alley and checking the streets, about the boy that had always been a bit too trusting and relentlessly optimistic. About the house burning while I left. About the years I'd spent thinking about Ian, breaking myself over never seeing him again, memories where he would laugh and tease and scold and confront people in grocery stores.

Every time I looked back to check, he was there. Through streets and dodging in and out of alleys when Ozzy got a buzz that a car was coming our way, every single time he was still there. Still in a frayed brown shirt, tired jeans, looking like he hadn't had a decent meal since I'd last seen him. We ran from the police in secret until we reached the apartement complex, and his smile never left.

"Keep to the wall, just in case."Ozzy said, still a bit careful around Ian and keeping his voice quiet. Ian nodded and smirked without response, keeping to the wall while the three of us acted like a human shield against him. No other cars came, though, and the night was silent until we reached the top of the stairwell.

And then we all froze, our hearts dropping to our feet.

"Hey guys."Gina asked.

"Where ya been?"Maria copied in a tight tone.

Both women leaned against the railing and door, arms crossed and lips thin. I debated swan-diving over the railing in an attempt to escape, but Maria pushed off the railing and walked forward a bit too fast to act.

"Hm? You gone mute all of a sudden? You think you three are so tough you can just go out at night, huh? Think this was a good idea?!" Her voice grew tighter and angrier as she slipped into spanish, only quelled by Gina when she stepped up and put a hand on Maria's shoulder, still glaring at us.

"Hm? Go ahead, tell us why you directly disobeyed us and went out after cerfew." Before any of us could speak, Ian slid between Thrax and me and put a hand to his chest. He was still smiling.

"I'm afraid that's because of me, ma'ams."

Gina and Maria looked confused, until Maria looked from Ian to me, and then looked wide-eyed back to him. Her mouth opened a bit, and I would have loved to have explained it right there and then, but sirens were still wining in the distance.

"I'll explain...and so will he...when everyone's inside. C'mon, let's go." I turned and felt around for the key in my pockets, only to have Thrax's claw move in my eyesight, the key hanging off of it. I made a face at him and snatched the key, catching a glance on Ian from me to Thrax. With shaky, panicky hands, I unlocked the door and pushed it open, leaning against it while everyone else filed in, last of all Ozzy. He stopped, put a hand on my shoulder and whispered,

"You good, girl?"

Honestly, I didn't know.

"Yeah."

The door shut, everyone standing against walls, Thrax sitting on the bed, and Ian pulling a chair up from a desk across the room. He put it at the foot of the bed facing the door, where I stood against it afraid that if I did sit down, I might not have stood back up. My hands slid into my pockets, and I blinked just for extra measure, just to make sure one last time that Ian was sitting across from me, legs crossed and one arm over the back of the chair. No one looked at ease but him, but then again if he hadn't looked completely calm, I might have not thought it was Ian.

"Alright, someone's gotta spill."Maria finally broke the silence, looking worriedly between Ian and me. I nodded. Ian smiled.

"I guess I'll go first, but remember, I've missed out on a lot, too."He held a hand to his chest, but I couldn't be as lighthearted as he was.

"Ian,"The name sounded strange coming from my mouth, a name I hadn't said in years, "Ian, you can't just...turn up and expect..."I paused, then started over, "...What happened?" Two words seemed encompassing enough, and Ian's smile softened, his eyes stopped trying too hard to cheer everyone up. For a moment, he looked much older. He uncrossed his legs and put his hands in his lap, thumbs twiddling as he looked around the room, then settled a look at me.

"It's a bit hard to tell, because...well, that night, it's all really blurry. The men knocked on the door, Mom pushed you into Dad and told him to hide you. Then..."He swallowed and that smile looked a little forced. My fingers curled in my pockets, looking at the only other person who knew what happened that night in a detail we'd rather forget. So I didn't blame him when he skipped them. "I was knocked out, I guess they thought I was gone. I mean, let me tell you, I wasn't exactly in top-notch condition after what they'd done. After that, all I remember is getting out before the house caught fire, thinking I had to find you.

"But you were gone by the time everything stopped spinning. I thought Pox got you, I was going to go after him, until news spread that he hadn't gotten you." He looked up at me, up and down, as if he weren't entirely sure he'd found me yet, "So I went looking for you, naturally. I thought I'd catch up to you in a days time, maybe a week if you were fast. Iris, you were very, very fast." He laughed, and finally I felt an embarrased smile. I shrugged, looking at him, fitting the story to his face.

"You looked for her for, what, thirteen years?"Ozzy asked, arms crossed and leaning under the flat screen. Ian leaned back and held out his arms.

"Naturally! Iris was all I had, you've got to understand that. Our family line ends with us, and just look at that face. Who could just let that face go off on their own? But...yeah, the first few years were rough. I thought that it was impossible for someone to get this lost, to avoid Pox for so long. But I looked for you, I really did. And I'm sorry I couldn't find you sooner."

"Please,"I laughed bitterly, shaking my head and feeling a lump start in my throat, "I thought you were dead, Ian. I wasn't exactly holding a grudge." He shrugged and grabbed his knees with his hands, swallowing again and brightening up,

"Anyway, I chased you. Poorly, mind you, I didn't exactly have a lot of clues to go off of. Mainly I looked around Immunity buildings, which didn't always work out for me, as you just saw,"He nodded his head to the window, from which we could hear police sirens slowly fading away. "I was arrested here a few weeks ago. Scientist Cities are always the worst to break out of, their technology is really irritating. But then, I think it was three days ago, I heard two guards talking about how they might have to escort some new germs into the body.

"And...they said your name. And I couldn't...I didn't think I'd be the one to get somewhere before you. I wanted it to be you, part of me didn't believe it...part of me still doesn't believe it. I looked around Immunity buildings, for thirteen years, in case someone had seen you were a virus and jailed you. Only to find out that you're on the other side of the bars." His eyes shone, but I couldn't tell if he were about to cry or if that was some sort of pride. He was smiling, still, either way.

And I got the cue for me to start my side of the story. But when I thought of where to start, I realized that my life had taken so many twists and turns and I had to explain so much... It took me a moment to organize everything.

"So, dear sister of mine, where exactly have you been for thirteen years?"Ian asked light-heartedly, and I blew out a breath and pulled my hands from my pockets, busying myself with undoing the bun in my hair and then re-doing it before I started. There was a lot to go through.

I didn't even realize how little Ian knew about that night.

"Dad..."I started, crossing my arms and looking at the carpet, away from all the eyes on me and ignoring Drix sniffling in the corner, "...That night, if that's what we're calling it, that night Dad took me to the back room and managed to get me out before they...yeah, yeah. But before he got me out, he made me promise not to stop running from Pox. So...I ran. For a really long time. Ten years, actually."

"..."Ian paused, mouth open and eyebrows raised, and then sat back and shook his head. "Dad always gave horrible advice."He breathed, almost laughing.

"It kept me alive for a good ten years."I retorted, shrugging, and Ian gave a lopsided, lazy smile.

"Hey, my little sister outran Pox for ten years. Not saying it was the best approach, but that's one hell of a feat. And someday, you're going to tell me all about it, but what I really have to know about is all of this." Pox swirrled a finger around the room, indicating the people, the placing, and the time. And I relaxed, if just a little bit, because this was easy. This was nice.

I'd spent fractions of moments wondering what my family would have thought about how I ended up. Now I got to see. So I began.

I told Ian everything...to an extent. I told everything, from the very moment it all began. Seeing Ozzy and Drix, getting attacked, Thrax. Ian gave a small look to Thrax, who was just looking at me the entire time with an easy, neutral expression. But I guessed that, behind the shades he'd slipped on, his eyes weren't so easily neutral.

I told Ian about getting attacked, again("Jeez, kiddo, twice? You all keep her on a leash?"), but skimmed over the part where Thrax confronted me for the first time. I didn't say, but in my head images flashed of a time a long, long time ago where I traded half-hearted answers for a glove that I no longer wore. I moved to the part where Pox found me, and skipped the gory details.

"Out of all the bodies in the world, he found me in Hector. And if it weren't for Thrax, that might have been the last place I ever went. He stopped Pox before he could do anything...bad."I explained, and Ian leaned back to smile over at Thrax.

"Well, thank you sir. I think I owe you a few favors." Thrax, looking just a shred uncomftorble, shrugged and slicked back his dreads.

"Wasn't one-sided, trust me. I may have gotten in a few tight situations myself." I smirked and nodded, then moved on before Ian could catch anything. Moved onto the hospital, to see everyone for the first time.

"So I think now would be a good time for introductions, before I get to the good stuff," I stopped, and motioned to everyone as I spoke, "This is Maria Amino. That's Gina, she comes in later. Thrax, you know. Osmosis Jones and Drix. Sneeze and Sniff, two others, are back in Hector. But everyone here, minus Gina and Thrax, are in Immunity."

"Yo, you forgot to tell him I'm _second-in-command Immunity detective _Osmosis Jones!"Ozzy exclaimed, popping his jacket. I rolled my eyes and nodded, seeing a smile on Ian's face that let me know he liked Ozzy's little rambunciousness. A large part of me relaxed, a part of me that was a bit worried Ian may not mesh with the entire group...

When I moved on, I skipped a few major points. Like that first conversation with Ozzy about Thrax, what happened after I'd pulled Thrax from that building roof. I didn't feel that these things needed to be said, not here and now. Hopefully not ever, if I were being unrealistic. And when I got to the part about finally confronting Pox, Ozzy and Maria jumped in to fill in details. I managed to get to the point, though.

"You went into one of those tubes?"Ian asked, suddenly not smiling so much. Stumbling over words, I quickly corrected,

"It was the only way, and I thought you were dead, and hey it ended up breaking anyway!"

"But you could have DIED."

"That's what we thought, too!"Maria exclaimed, and I held my hands up to try and defend myself from the words being thrown at me.

"Listen, okay, maybe not the best idea. But it was the only idea in that situation, alright? I'm here now, so can I finish this thing? It's getting late, and we have to figure out how we're going to hide Ian and get him back to Hector."

"Bu-"

"No."I silenced Ian, regardless of what he were going to say. About skimming my near-death or bringing him back. Neither of those could be debated any longer, they were set in stone. He huffed and sat back, mouth still light. So I went on, about chasing Pox for three years, about coming back and trying to figure out his code, about confronting him, about everything that led us to here and now. And when I was done, and everyone had said what they needed to say, the room was quiet for a moment.

Words settled down to the floor, and scenes finished in our heads, and our tongues relaxed themselves in our mouths. Suddenly I wished I'd been given a seat. And then Ian crossed the room with just a few strides, and gripped my shoulder just as tight had he had done in the alley.

"C'mere."He laughed, and pulled me hard to his chest, arms tight around me. Not too tight, letting me explain the scarring later, but enough to put pressure. Forgetting the others in the room, thinking that I could feel Ian's heart beating, telling me that he was still alive, I wrapped my arms back against him. He was still laughing, and then I was laughing, and then I heard Ozzy and Maria and Gina laughing, and Drix sniffling again.

And for a moment, for one beautiful moment when tears just barely wet the corners of my eyes and I listened to the heart of my brother, everything was okay. Everyone was okay.

"Yeah...yeah, Maria, everything was fine. No, everyone fell asleep almost right after you guys left...yeah he didn't mind. Hm? Oh, there's a living room on the other side of the flat, with a pull-out couch. Thrax didn't seem to mind, I think he...you know, doesn't want everything to be told right now. Ian and I shared the bed. Mmmhmmm. It's six right now. Okay, I'll see you then. Love you too."

I hung up the phone quietly and walked into the kitchen where Ian, looking more well-rested than last night, was silently drinking some coffee and reading a newspaper that was dropped off. He gave me a big, dorky smile over his mug and nodded to Thrax. I looked over and my chest warmed, an involuntary smile happening when I saw him laying on his stomach, face turned away from us and blankets strewn about the bed. It felt a bit uncomftorble having someone else see him like this.

But damn if he didn't look funny.

"Isn't he cute?"Ian whispered, and I rolled my eyes, walking up to the bed and fixing the blankets lightly. When they were right again, making sure he was still sleeping pretty soundly, I walked back to the kitchen. Then saw Ian giving me a look. It was one of 'those' looks. The one where he raised his eyebrows and smirked over the rim of his mug and nodded to Thrax.

I felt my eyes go wide and I looked to Thrax, then back to Ian, shaking my head vigorously. I tried to speak, but couldn't come up with words enough to settle this issue that I really, really, really did not want to talk about. My face was red, my stomach had dropped. Ian looked like the Cheshire cat.

"Bad boys, huh? Thought you'd go more for the cushy, bookish types."He said quietly, and I wanted to melt into a puddle right there. Or evaporate.

"Ian, I'm not- Thrax isn't-"

"Oh please, Iris, I'm thirty not blind."He rolled his eyes and hopped to sit on the counter, looking across the room to Thrax again before snorting and reading. I buried my face in my hands, feeling my stomach flop and wishing we had more than toast and coffee.

"You can't tell him you know."I muttered, groaning as I made toast.

"Why? It's not like I'll do anything bad!...Too bad, give me some wiggle room. I'm glad my baby sister found someone to make her happy, even if he is an infamous, homicidal, viral serial-killer."

"Ex-serial killer...soon."I reasoned, realizing how pathetic that sounded. Ian shrugged and smiled, but I knew the capabilities behind that smile.

"Ian, I'm serious. He doesn't...just at least wait until we're back in Hector. He doesn't like these things getting everywhere, you know? And neither do I. So talk about it in private when we've smuggled you out. Which, by the way, I don't think Drix's plan could possibly work."

"Put me in his chest cabinet thing. It sounds fun!"

"You're a child."

"I am thirty years old!"

"You're a man-child." I corrected, just as a knock came on the front door. Without a word, almost practiced, Ian jumped from the counter and slid against the wall next to the opening to the living room/kitchen. I walked to the door and pulled it open, relieved when it was Maria, Ozzy, Gina and Drix. "Hey, Thrax is still sleeping. Let me get him up and we'll head out."

They filed in as I walked to the living room, Ian going out to greet them all. But, before the got to the other room, he stopped in the doorway and leaned back to look at me, giving me a large and exaggerated wink. Then shut the door.

I buried my beet-red face into my hands, groaning as quiet as I could without waking Thrax. He wasn't angry, that was good. He wasn't asking too many questions, he wasn't being too protective or overbearing, that was great.

But he was being the Ian I remember.

That was horrifically, numbingly, humiliating.

Thrax put a hand on my shoulder, but I couldn't look at anyone right now. I hefted a deep sigh and ran both hands through my hair, resting my forehead on my palms.

"Thank you for letting us come here,"I heard Maria telling Mayor Booster, everyone in various stated of dejectedness in his office, "and we're sorry that we couldn't find anything."

"Oh, I'm the one that's truly sorry. I'll try and amp up security, hopefully this just means Genome skipped town. You all did your best, I hope you're still able to solve your situation back in Hector."Booster said softly, lifting my face from my hands and looking at least a bit put-together. Without Genome, we were going home to a body left defenseless and with a Pox who could still get out of this alive. We'd searched all day, searched in every last place we could think of, but we ended up with nothing.

As Booster reached his hand out to shake Maria's, I was about to turn and make sure Drix had his chest cabinet completely shut, knowing Ian had to be getting cramped in there by now.

And as I was about to look, I almost missed it.

My eyes caught a flash of white on the back of Booster's hand, once again seeing the thin scar running from his middle knuckle and down. Maria took his hand and held it, saying something I didn't quite catch. My heart skipped a beat.

"Ozzy."I muttered, quiet enough for everyone but Thrax and Ozzy to miss. He looked down at me, curiously, and I leaned a bit to him with my eyes still on Booster's hand. "White blood cells can change their cellular dynamics, right? Make them look like something else?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Let me see the picture of Genome."I kept my voice quiet, looking over as Ozzy slowly pulled the picture from the inside of his jacket, handing it over to me. I took it and glanced down, Ozzy and Thrax trying to secretly tilt their heads to look, too. There, the slightly chubby white-blood cell with stubble around a large jawline, his arms crossed over a large chest. And I took a second for the others to see it, too.

"...Spit."Thrax whispered.

"Huh?"Ozzy asked, and I handed the photo back to him, looking up at Booster as he gave Maria a very convincing, sympathetic smile, nodding to whatever she was saying.

"His hand."I muttered, and saw Ozzy stiffen up beside me. My eyes slowly moved over Booster's face, and then to the photo in Ozzy's hand. Right there, in the exact same place and the exact same thickness, Genome had a scar running from his middle finger to his wrist.

We didn't say another thing after that, but Thrax, Ozzy and I all gave each other a look. Thrax nodded to Booster, looking at Ozzy who slowly slid the photo back into his jacket and began to slowly stroll over, face neutral. Thrax moved to the other side of Booster and Gina, and I looked over to a noticing and confused Drix. I motioned him over slyly, seeing him float slowly over.

"Booster's Genome." Drix jumped a bit, but I grabbed his hand and whispered, "Shh, don't make a move. Just get ready, and keep Ian safe, okay?" Drix looked a bit wary, looking to Booster who had taken his hand back and was nodding still to Gina, chuckling a bit. Ozzy was far to one side, and Thrax was pretending to look at a picture on the wall.

"Are you sure?"Drix muttered. I nodded, and we both broke apart. I walked up to Gina, putting a hand on her back, and said to the room,

"Hey, guys, we'd better get going. Chief's expecting us back soon." Maria turned and gave me a quizzical look, but my eyes connected with hers and flickered over to Ozzy, then back. Without a word, Maria knew something was wrong. She didn't get time to ask, or to retaliate, because just as I'd said that Ozzy was at the desk.

"Oops!"He called out, flailing out as he tripped over the edge of the desk and collided with Booster. Both men crashed noisily to the floor, and I lightly shoved Gina and Maria out of the way as Ozzy rolled to his feet. Booster was on the ground, calling out.

Except he wasn't exactly Booster anymore.

When Ozzy hit him, he had hit the ground hard. And I recalled the time Ozzy told me the story about breaking into a meeting Thrax had been having, how his disguise had been compromised by enough force being used to snap the cellular dynamics back into place. On the floor, Mayor Booster was growing considerably less thin, his height snapping downwards. Arms bulged, legs thickened, his stomach began to protrude more. His hair snapped back into an oiled-back fashion, stubble on his cheeks receeded to his jawline.

And then Genome lay on the floor, groaning and trying to push himself back up.

"Oh my Hector..."Maria's shocked voice came from behind me. I stepped forward, fighting hard not to smile, and looked down. Genome rolled and pushed himself up onto one arm, looking up at me with a disheveled, frazzled look in his eyes. I quirked an eyebrow.

"You're as smart as I was hoping, Genome." His eyes widened in panic and he shoved himself back, stumbling onto his back and then pushing himself into a sitting position against the desk, eyes flickering all around as the others surrounded him. I slowly crossed my arms, shaking my head. Thrax walked up from Genome's other side, reaching down and smoothly hooking his claw under the man's collar and hefting him to his feet, making the chubby man call out.

"Y-you can't do this! You're out of your juristiction now! You had a specifically set time limit and now-"

"Now, we just found Genome with twenty-seven second to spare."Gina's smile shone through her voice as she tapped a watch on her wrist, Genome's mouth falling open. His face jiggled a bit with his trembling, looking both offronted and terrified at the same time.

"No, no! I am Genome, do you know what I do?!"He demanded.

"Mhmm, you help out Immunity now."Maria put a hand on her hip and smiled over at me. "Good work, chica." This time I smiled, half because we'd caught Genome, who panicked and protested loudly in the grip of Thrax, and half because I was wondering how sound-proof Drix's cabinet was. If Ian had heard...

"I am the Mayor! You need to put me down!" Genome's voice was high and panicky, "I am a genius!"

"Mayor Booster, please,"Ozzy said with a big grin, "you're embarrasing yourself, man." Maria laughed and turned, waving as she called back over her shoulder, leaving us with a trembling Genome,

"I'm gonna go tell those nice fellas outside that we caught our man."

"And see the look on the face of that prick that led us in here."Thrax mused, a smile sliding onto his face as he sunk the claw deeper into Genome's collar, me half-expecting him to light it. And then, from inside Drix's chest, came a tapping noise and a small cheer.

"Go Iris!" Ian cheered, making Ozzy lean onto the desk laughing.

And I covered my face with my hands. Getting back to Hector, now, was a welcome gift.


	11. Chapter 11

_-Iris-_

Something was wrong the moment we stepped foot into the Immunity building. People looked up, then quickly back down and began shuffling papers frantically, many looking for excuses to leave the room. Behind us, Ozzy and Drix held Genome, but the looks were more aimed at us than anything. Worry, panic, they looked like someone had walked in on them doing something wrong. I looked up at Maria, but she shrugged and walked forward, snapping her fingers at two large men who hadn't left yet.

"Ay, take him and put him in the interrogation room. Cuff him, lock him in there, don't let him out of your sights." She demanded, and both men nodded and complied quickly, ushering out the still-grumbling Genome from the room. "Hm, weird."Maria muttered, everyone now heading to Chief's office.

"I wonder what happened to make everyone act so strange."I muttered, looking over my shoulder to where Ian walked, still stretching out his neck from being cramped inside of Drix for awhile. I thought that maybe they were for him, maybe everyone was a little on-edge about three viruses walking through Immunity. And I told myself that's what it was, even though all the eyes fell equally on each of us. Maria got to Chief's door first and pushed it open, calling in as we followed,

"Ay, Chief, you're not gonna believe what happ-"

Chief wasn't in the room.

I almost ran into Maria when she stopped, side-stepping around her to see what was wrong. What was wrong was that Chief wasn't the one sitting in his chair. It was a slouching, tense-faced, thumb-twiddling Mayor Spryman.

"Spryman? Where's Chief?!"Ozzy demanded, sounding a bit on-edge still about the last time they'd met. Spryman sat up and said in a voice that sounded unsteady and practiced,

"Chief...hey, who's that?"Spryman demanded, leaning forward with his hands on the desk, seeing Ian. I put an arm in front of Ian and stepped forward, shaking my head.

"Not now, Mayor. Where's Chief? We have things we have to debrief him on." Spryman's face suddenly fell, mouth falling open a bit, but quickly swallowed and tried to regain a sense of composure. He smoothed down the front of his shirt and looked up at us, looking every bit a young boy as he was, nervous and twitchy.

"Ah, yes, see...that's the issue."He tried, standing up and wringing his hands while trying to hold a more mature face than he was capable of. My stomach dropped, and my eyes darted around the room. Nothing looked out-of-place, just a lack of Chief. "A few hours after you left, we got a call of inflamation near the glands in the throat. Chief went to check it out and...a bomb was hidden near the vocal chords. We think it was, um, pre-planned there. Everyone got out fine, but Chief..."

My hands curled in tightly, my breath came out in one silent huff.

"...He's in the hospital. He hasn't woken up yet...the doctors don't know what's going to happen. What good are they anyway?" Spryman added the last sentence in an exclamation of anger, crossing his arms and furiously glaring at the floor. His jaw was tight, and he looked like an upset child about to cry. Gina moved and sat on a desk in the corner of the room, Maria shakily rested a hand on the edge of the desk, trying to look like she was just thinking.

"It was Pox."Ozzy said, voice dripping with venom.

"Of course it was."I muttered quietly, unclenching my fists and clenching them again. I felt a light hand brush my back, keeping a familiar warmth there. It gave me enough to take in a new breath and speak, "But he'll be safe in the hospital. Pox did this to rattle us, we can't let him get away with that." There was a quiet where everyone took a moment to recollect.

Then Maria nodded, and stood up to face Spryman.

"We caught Genome, he was masquerading as Mayor Booster. We're going to go interrogate him now on what he knows about Pox. From there we'll debrief you, ai'ght?"Her voice was strictly professional, and Spryman seemed a bit thrown off by it. He nodded messily, hands slipping on the desk while Maria turned around. We were almost out the door when Spryman called out,

"Wait! I asked who he was." I turned to see him pointing at Ian, who had remained respectfully silent up to now. Ian raised his eyebrows, pointing to himself like a child, then opened his mouth to speak at the same time I did. We looked at the other, and then me to Maria, and Maria to Ozzy, all of us trying to think up an acceptable explanation to why we'd just brought another virus into Hector...

"You know what?"Spryman said, waving us off with a frustrated sigh, "I don't wanna know. Don't cause any trouble and tell me what this guy says."

We paused, and Ian smiled wide and thanked Spryman. It was the first time I could remember where I realized that Spryman might not be a bad person inside and out.

Maria led us to the interrogation room, which was actually just one room with two doors. We went into the door on the left, and walked into a very dark, grey room with a desk and some chairs. On the right side of the room there was a large window, slightly tinted, showing into the room we would have entered had we gone into the right door. In that room, there was a large steel table and two chairs on either end. Only one was being occupied, with two officers standing at the door.

"Alright,"Maria said once she'd shut the door, "Iris, Ian, you know what this is?"

"I've been behind a few of them. Never on this side, though."Ian mused, and I tried to hide the fact that I shook my head. Maria put a finger on the glass and explained, "Two-way mirror. We see out, he can't see in."

"I'll go in first!"Ozzy volunteered, but Maria caught him by the back of his jacket and threw him back into the room.

"No you don't! Last time you interrogated someone you almost got yourself killed!"

"Did not!"

"Jones."

"...Alright, alright, fine." He sat on the desk and pouted, crossing his arms and muttering.

"I'll go."I offered, but Maria again shook her head.

"Gina and I are going in first. Then, if we fail, we'll talk." She opened the door and Gina jumped down to follow, but before leaving she turned to us and smirked, "Make yourselves comftorble. This may take awhile."

She wasn't kidding.

"I'm gonna get some air. Be on the roof if you need me."Thrax muttered next to me, both of us sitting under the window with Ozzy sleeping noisily on the desk, Drix sleepily watching the window with Ian sitting in a chair the wrong way around, looking too awake and too interested. Hours had passed, everyone making excuses to move by getting coffee(cups were stacked in the trashcan like the Eiffle Tower. This was a product of Ozzy's boredom.) or going to the bathroom because of said coffee. I nodded, rubbing an eye and shifting away from Thrax, who took his arm from me and stood.

I watched as he left, resting my head against the wall and imagining the beautiful night of sleep I was going to get after this. That alone made me smile, despite stiff joints and an aching back. Next to me, Ian swiftly sat, legs crossed and smiling down at me. When I looked at him my heart jumped, still not used to the idea that he, Ian, was here next to me.

"I can't believe you're alive still, you know."

"I can't believe how old you are."

"Hey!"I smacked his ribs playfully, and he grabbed them and laughed, nudging me back. "You're the one who got old. Look at you, you're middle-aged. It's so..."

"Weird? Trying seeing your baby sister legally allowed to consume alcohol. The last time I saw you, you couldn't even reach the middle shelf." I shook my head, then rested it back on the wall. "You grew up beautiful, though. Kinda look like Mom, but you've got Dad's chin. It's strange..." Ian leaned forward and looked at the ground, smile halved, "...it's gonna take some getting used to, the fact that you might not need me as much anymore."

"Oh, shut up. I'll need you."I shoved his back, and he turned to me with a huge pout.

"But you've got your big red boyfriend to reach the top shelf for- Ow! Ow! Okay, okay, I'll stop!"I let go of the vice-grip I'd had on his ear and rolled my eyes. He laughed and rubbed his ear, then nodded to the door. "I think you should follow him, though. He was debating on whether or not to leave your side or not for the last hour. I saw." He added the last part when I looked at him skeptically. He nodded to the door, as if to say, 'well? Move it!'

I hesitated, actually want to go to Thrax, but with a question on my mind. I looked up, seeing Drix having fallen asleep in the air and Ozzy still snoring on the desk. Then back to Ian.

"Ian, can I ask you something?"

"Sure thing, sis."He mused, leaning back and slinging an arm around me.

"When I was younger, you wouldn't let another boy walk past me. Now...you're fine with...whatever there is between me and another virus?"I asked, and Ian beamed a smile full of teeth and eye-crinkles.

"Of course! I mean, c'mon, I can't just let a man court you in my presence. It's poor manners. But in that terrible time you had, when all I could think about was you alone and scared out in this world, the fact that you found someone is great! My little sister has a boyfriend, do you know how long I've waited for this? It's terrific! Now go out there, meet your creepy-looking prince charming!"

"Oh my Hector, you are so embarrasing."I groaned through laughter, standing up and going to the door. "Get us if the girls ever come out of there?"

"Sure thing. Make good choices!"

I shut the door before he could say any more.

The halls were empty, people scuttling behind doors and an air of unease about the entire place. I knew why now, but I didn't want to. Without Chief, no one was exactly sure what to do. There were set rules and papers to be filed and cases to be done, and everyone could do them well enough on their own. But I sympathized with them. It just wasn't the same without Chief shouting at you to do it. I thought about him in a hospital bed, unconcious, and shook that thought. Instead I imagined him yelling orders to the doctors about how he didn't need an IV or a 'damned white-coat telling me what I can and can't eat!'.

Climbing the stairwell and getting to the door, I kept this thought until I made it out into the open air. It was dark now, streetlights just beginning to flicker on, Hector yawning and causing a breeze to whistle through buildings. I shut the door behind me, footsteps muffled on the strange material that covered the roof floor, seeing Thrax leaning against the raised ledge with his arms crossed. When I got closer, he turned his head to me and slid off his shades.

"Hey."I greeted, resting my elbows on the ledge next to him. One of his arms snaked around my waist and pulled me in, placing his arms on either side of my own and covering my back in a peculiar, familiar, spreading warmth. I sighed into it, closing my eyes and imagining sleeping in a bed right now, just curled up next to him and resting for a few days. I felt lips on my jaw and smiled, muttering, "I'm exauhsted."

"I could have ended that interrogation in two minutes, flat."

"You also would have killed him."

"You think I just kill every person that...I see your point."He paused, and I chuckled while he leaned forward into me and looked us both out into the city. It was quiet here, a different kind of quiet than back in the room. In Immunity, it was a static kind of quiet, the quiet that can't seem to stop moving and buzzing in your ears with its silence. Here it was a free quiet. Open, easy, the kind of quiet you could fall in love with.

His hands went over mine and he tilted his head, a dread falling in his face. I moved a bit and fixed that, putting a finger under his chin and smirking at him.

"What?"He asked curiously. I shook my head and laughed.

"I don't know." He quirked an eyebrow, tilting his head a bit more as I shook mine and turned back to the city. "I think we should visit Chief tomorrow."

"I think you need sleep."Thrax mused, huffing out a breath and tapping the side of my head, "You're goin' crazy."

"Hmph."I mummbled out, feeling one of his hands smooth my hair from my face, only to have it fall back again. "I wonder how they're doing in there. Genome's lasted a long time."

"Get your mind off it, nothin' we can do anyway."Thrax mused, and I felt his mouth on my neck, sending pinpricks all over my skin. I turned my head to the side, breathing out and feeling him, muscles relaxing, things smoothing out in my head. I turned and faced him, wrapping my arms around his neck to keep him leaning down. A smile stretched across his lips, leaning up to kiss his forehead and then cheek. "I can't wait until this is done."

"What are we gonna do? No one chasing us, no death-threats. Not for you, anyway."I smiled as he put his hands on my hips.

"Hmm, don't sound like-"

"Hey there!"

I jumped and Thrax took a step back, Ian shutting the door behind him with a huge grin on his face. My stomach dropped, seeing Ian walk forward and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Gina and Maria want everyone back in the room."He nodded to the door, and I nodded with my lips pressed together. Ian gave me an overzealous pat on the back that almost sent me toppling forward, and moved to lean back against the ledge. I turned and furrowed my eyebrows, seeing him standing with no intention of moving.

"Um, aren't you coming too Ian?"I asked, and he shook his head with that dopey grin on, nodding to Thrax.

"Nope! I gotta tell Thrax here something real quick, we'll be down in a few minutes."He chirped, and my stomach fell even lower. I opened my mouth and stepped forward, seeing the suspicious look on Thrax's face, but Ian stood quickly and spun me by my shoulders, almost shoving me to the door. "Don't worry, we won't miss a thing! Just chat awhile! Schmooze, I think is what the kids say these days. Shoo!" And with a swift slam of the door behind me, I was back in the stairwell.

I turned, hand raised to knock on the door, but knew Ian a bit better than that. I sighed, gritting my teeth nervously and looking back behind me. They'd got something on Genome. Ian had Thrax. I had my priorities.

"Sorry, Thrax."I muttered, wincing and carefully turning down the stairs and taking them two at a time. It was Ian, anyway. It couldn't get too bad.

_-Thrax-_

"SPIT!"I cursed, the ground falling from my feet and almost toppling over backwards, jerking down and feeling a pain in the back of my neck. Panic shot through me and I gripped the hand holding my collar, looking down at the street about seven stories down. Then up at the crazy son of a bitch holding me there. "What do you think you're doin?!" I shouted up to Ian, not even taking time to wonder how he could hold me here like this with one hand and have a calm face above me.

"I just want to talk, nothing big."His voice was almost reasonable, if he hadn't been holding me over a hard sidewalk.

"Then bring me back up, damnit!"

"I will, it just depends on how this conversation goes."His eyes were calm, but there was a hardness behind them that I'd seen before. Iris had the same look, in almost the same eyes. Stormy grey, white hair, it had taken me all of a second to know that he had to be related to her. I'd thought nothing of it, just relieved that Iris would have someone now. That she wasn't completely alone in this world. He'd been a bit strange, but nothing more.

Until now.

"Spit, when I get up there-"

"You aren't going to do anything. You're going to listen right now."His voice was considerably less dopey, now with a harder edge, deeper and showing his age. I panted, looking up at him and wondering if I'd have time to latch onto my jacket if he really did drop me. Right now, hanging in the air like some kind of demented pinata, I had to listen. He seemed to know this, too, because he leaned one arm on the ledge as he continued to hold me.

"Iris is the only thing I have left in this world. I don't have friends, I don't have family, she's been my only goal for thirteen years. I don't care about you and her being together, in fact I'm thrilled. She needs happiness, her life's been unfair enough, that isn't what this is about. Iris trusts you, the others seem to have some agreement that you won't do anything bad enough to make them have to step in." His hand clenched tighter on my collar and I grit my teeth, neck aching and feet trying to find solid ground.

"I don't know you, I haven't had time to trust you enough yet. So just answer this for me: if you ever, ever do anything to her, anything justifiably bad, do I have permission to come up here and drop you from this roof?" I looked up to him from the sidewalk below, and paused. I thought of that kind of situation. I thought of what would happen if I wasn't good enough, if I messed up big time. I shifted my neck.

"You want an honest answer? She'd get to me long before you would!"I managed out through gritted teeth, struggling to find a good position to breathe in. I didn't have to fight for long, though, because with a strength I still didn't get, I was thrown back over the ledge and dumped onto the ground, barely landing on shaky legs. Ian placed his hands on my chest and smoothed out the shirt, then stepped back and smiled like he hadn't just held me over a building.

"Nice talk! I think you're a good guy, now let's go see what Gina and Maria got."He turned on his heel and headed to the door. I paused, panting, looking after him and putting a hand to where his had held my shirt.

"...Spit."I whispered, and rubbed my neck as I moved forward to the door. I didn't do crazy families, not normally. But for Iris...I rubbed my temple. For Iris it was worth it, it wasn't even a question. Just one clinically insain brother I could deal with.

_-Iris-_

"And then I gave him a right hook, and-"

"We're back!"Ian came into the room just as Ozzy was about to demonstrate how he 'single-handedly' took down a Swine Flue germ four weeks ago. I looked first to Thrax, but he had his shades on and looked like he'd been put through a bit. I bit the inside of my cheek as he settled next to me, standing on one end of the table with Gina and Maria one either side of Genome, Ozzy and Drix to our left and Ian to our right.

Genome was slouched, glaring and rubbing his temples. Whatever had been done to him in the past few hours must have been nothing compared to listening to Ozzy talk for four minutes.

"A'ight, so we've got some good news and some bad news,"Gina announced, "Genome here really doesn't know anything more than that Pox is planning on evolving past his current cure in the next two weeks. He hired Genome two years ago, and without him in that scientist the City of Simon should get up an running on a new cure any day now."

"But he can't tell us anything about Pox?"I asked, arms crossed tightly.

"That's where our good news comes in."Maria said, smiling and patting Genome on the back, making him send a hidden glare up at her, "Our new friend has volunteered to go meet with Pox. He knows he can get a hold of him and set up a meeting place that we can monitor. He goes in, gets Pox's plan, and we intercept it before anything can go down."

"But what if Pox knows I'm doing this for you, huh? What kinda protection am I getting out of this?"Genome demanded, and Maria sat on the table facing him.

"Pox won't find out if you're half as good as you say you are, will he? Besides, if you do this right, you may be able to avoid a life sentence in jail."Maria smirked icily.

"And if I don't?"Genome demanded.

"You don't wanna know."Ozzy, Drix, Maria and I all chorused together. Genome gave us a shaky look, sudden panic in his eyes that, yes, we were going to make him do this.

"B-but Pox, he's crazy-"

"Aw, don't worry! We'll be right outside waiting. Now why don't you give him a call, huh?...I'm waiting."Maria snapped, and Genome jumped in the chair, then regretfully slid a phone from his inside pocket. Shaking and looking like he was sighing a death certificate, he punched in the buttons while the rest of us kept silent. Bringing the phone to his ear, Genome used the back of the now-tight suit arm to mop up sweat from his forehead and second chin.

Pause, then a click.

I couldn't hear the voice on the other end of the phone, but I could picture the face behind it. I closed my eyes and leaned against Thrax, who slid an arm snug around my hips and waited with me. Genome spoke with a voice too confident for the trembling mess we'd just seen. In his defense, he was a good actor. Finally, after a few seconds, he got to the point.

"Complications came up. We gotta go through what you're really doing here, or I can't continue my work... Well, if you want someone to mess it up, sure, go ahead... Mmhmm, that's what I-...Fine. Pleasure doing business with you."

He hung up, and took in a deep breath. Maria smiled and slid off of the table.

"So, where are you boys meeting up?"Gina questioned, hands on her hips and looking victorious. Genome, still looking disgruntled and shaken, frowned.

"He wanted to meet in some alley, like I'm some common dealer!"

"Street corner?"Drix asked, "That would make surveilance incredibly difficult."

"That's what he wants,"I realized, "because Pox isn't an idiot. Even if he doesn't know that we have Genome, he won't take a chance."

"He'll have pleanty of ways to get out if he's in alleyways, too. Not to mention he probably rigged the place."Gina shook her head.

"How many bombs did you give this guy?!"Ozzy exclaimed at Gina, who blinked and shrugged.

"He paid fantastically."

"Fine, you know what, we'll let Genome go."Maria said, turning to Genome, "And we won't be able to be within a stone's throw of you, got it? Too risky. But you know what's gonna go down? You're going to go there,"She said this as she dragged him up by his collar and ushered him to the door, "and you're going to get his plan, and you're going to come back here. If you fail to comply with these orders and think it's a good idea to skip out of town, then we will find you. There will be more Immunity guarding the exits of this body than you've ever seen.

"If by some chance you still get out, we will alert every Immunity within radio distance. You won't get away, and when we get you, you won't be treated so nice, ya dig?" Maria opened the door, eyes burning holes in Genome's, who was almost a puddle by this point. "I asked you a question."Maria snapped, and Genome nodded his head vigorously, flab trembling on his face.

"Y-yeah! Okay, I'll be back in a few hours!"He stuttered out, and Maria gave him a glare so cold I was surprised frost didn't start creeping onto his face.

"Yeah, you'd better. I don't wanna have to go looking for you. Now go!"She shoved him out and with the two officers waiting outside. "Take him to the front doors, then when he comes back escort him right back here. No detours." Maria's orders were sharp enough to make the men jump and nod, taking Genome by the shoulders and pushing him out of sight, down the hall.

"You think this is gonna work?"Ozzy asked, and I shrugged and sighed.

"We don't really have anything else. What if he comes back and feeds us a fake story? We've got nothing."

"Aaaactually,"Ian sang, making everyone look back to him. He had stood very near to Genome, and was now relaxing on the arm of his chair, a big smile on his face and his arms crossed. "I thought that might happen. See, I have this issue where I pick things up if they look interesting, and I happened across this tape recorder when we were walking in. I hope Genome won't mind me hiding it on him, it was just so tiny and-"

"Ian, you are a _genius_."Maria gushed, smiling and throwing her hands up, then pointing to Ian and smiling at me, "I like this one, we keep him." I laughed, smiling proudly at Ian. I knew he was smart, sneaky to the point where he spent a majority of our childhood in time-out, but was even more thrilled to learn it hadn't gone with his age.

"Hey, if we've got a few hours, I'm gonna go catch some sleep. Call Iris when that fool comes back, will you."Thrax mused, sliding his hand around my wrist lightly.

"Oh, that's right,"Maria walked up to Ian and handed him a piece of paper, "Mayor Spryman got you a place to stay. It's in the same complex as the rest of us, why don't you follow those two there."

"Great.."Thrax muttered, but I was elated. Ian took the piece of paper with a look on his face that I knew so well that it gave me flashbacks. He was unsteady, confused, and skeptical. Because Ian had been on the run longer than I had, but I could recall the feeling of having a home for the first time in a long time. A roof over your head that wasn't falling apart, a safe place to lay down and rest, four walls all of your own. It wasn't a feeling you got over very fast.

I reached over and took Ian's hand, smiling and saying,

"Let's go check it out, huh? Their apartement complex is pretty close to ours." I nodded back to Thrax.

"Yeah..."He paused, still looking at the slip of paper that meant so much, and then to me. He beamed, full-watt, white teeth shining, "Alright!"

_-Osmosis Jones-_

"Twenty."I smiled at Drix, who rolled his eyes and opened up his chest to hand me some cash, just after the door closed.

"Whatchu' two doin', huh?"Gina asked behind us, and I took the cash and turned to her, smiling with all my charm and pointing back to the door.

"Oh, nothin', just Drix and I had this little bet goin' on. See, he didn't think that Thrax and Iris were all serious yet, and I bet that they were. Ozzy the Romance Professional one, overgrown cold pill zero!"

"Serious? How'd you figure that?"Maria asked, and I rolled my eyes. These guys, sometimes they just couldn't see between the lines like I could. I motioned to the door again and explained,

"Didn't you just hear what Iris said? That Ian's apartement complex was near _theirs_." I gave that time to sink in. Not enough time, apparently, because both girls just gave each other confused looks and shook their heads. I loved them, I did really, but they could miss things sometimes. Luckily, Drix stepped in to spell it out for them in that college-boy way of his.

"She indicated that the apartement was theirs. As in, her and Thrax's. She implied without knowing that they now live together. It's an awfully short amount of time to move in together-"

"Aw, spit, after all they've been through? I'm shocked it didn't happen sooner!"I exclaimed, seeing the ladies' eyes open wide. Gina crossed her arms and smiled, nodding her head.

"Huh, Iris and Thrax. You really think this is a long-term thing?"She asked.

"Those two?"Drix asked, smiling fondly at the door.

"Spit,"I grinned right back, thinking of how things were really starting to go Iris's way, "I'd say what they got's gonna last longer than long-term."

_-Iris-_

_ Buzz. Buzz. Buzz._

"You get it."

"No, it's your phone."

"Ugh."I groaned, rolling over and picking up my phone from the table beside the bed. We'd fallen asleep almost immediately after getting home, taking awhile to get Ian into his apartement, even longer to really explain to him that he lived there now. It was a moment I didn't soon want to forget, the look on his face when he realized he could stop by any time, that he lived somewhere now, permanently.

"Yeah?"

"Genome's back, get here quick."Maria's voice came across wide-awake, and I nodded before I remembered that she couldn't see me.

"Yeah, be there in five."I agreed, and snapped shut the phone. I pushed myself up with my arms and grabbed Thrax's hand, tugging it forward and making him sit up. He rubbed a hand down his face and swung his legs over the side of the bed, moving his hands to hold my waist and put his forehead on my stomach. A warmth spread across my stomach and I ran a hand down his hair, making me smile seeing him groggy.

"We gotta go."I said quietly, and he nodded against my stomach. I felt the friction send small ripples of light feeling across the scar on my stomach, spreading like it had fallen asleep. I heard him heft a large sigh and stand up, slicking back his dreads and sliding on his shades to cover tired eyes. We'd gotten some sleep, which was nice, but waking up felt like walking through thick mud. Even driving seemed too slow, almost falling asleep in the passenger seat and making sure Thrax wasn't doing the same.

We picked up Ian, who kept making faces at me and nodding to Thrax the entire time, Thrax thankfully too tired to notice. When we'd made it back to Immunity, neither one of us were any more awake than we'd been a few minutes ago.

"Look who woke up to join us."Ozzy teased as Thrax and I walked into the room, followed by Ian. I waved him off and saw Genome back in his chair, face steely and hands trembling. When I'd jumped up to the table and sat on it cross-legged, flanked by Thrax and Ozzy with Ian walking slyly around the table, Maria said in a fake-honest voice,

"So our pal here has told us that Pox plans on sitting out his plans, lull us into thinking he's either left or given up, and then launching a full-scale emplosion of the brain stem. Make it look like Hector had an anurism, or something went undetected, he doesn't care. Says it'll take about a week or two before Pox would strike."

"Oh is that so?"I asked, completely unconvinced and rubbing the side of my face on my hand to try and wake up.

"Hey, I told you what he said, what more do you want?!"Genome demanded, and I looked up just in time to see Ian grab Genome's hand and pluck something about the size of a dime from inside the sleeve. It was a black square, and Genome's eyes went wide. Someone as 'intelligent' as him had to know what it was.

"The truth."Ian answered simply, everyone settling around a panic-stricken Genome. Ian set the black box on the table and pressed the top of it, everyone leaning in and the room falling silent spare the metallic sound of the recorder switching on.

_Click._


	12. Chapter 12

_-I'd like to thank everyone who's read up to this point. This will be the final chapter, I hope you've enjoyed all the others. Enjoy!-_

_-Iris-_

_ Click. Click._

_"Genome, you got here fast."_

_"I was in town. We need to have a small talk."_

_"Hmm, strange. You'd never go to such lengths for other clients, just to have a chat. I'm flattered."_

_"Oh, shove it. Listen, I'm giving you my services for dirt cheap, and I got some info from a Flu Germ that you aren't just trying to overcome this cure they've got for you. Tell me about that."_

_"I don't see why it's any concern of yours, Gene. Unless, that is, you've changed to a different business."_

_"It's my concern, alright. Listen, the cops in Simon are getting suspicious of their 'caring mayor'. I need to know what you're doing to cover it up. If I'm found out to have helped you, I'm in deep. But if you tell me now, maybe we can make other arrangements to keep your name less smudged."_

_"That's a valiant, greedy, self-serving offer, Genome."_

_"Let's skip the flattery."_

_"Haha, very well then. Genome...what makes you think I want covering up in this? What if I want the world to know it was me?"_

_"It won't matter much if you still can't do anything, what with that cure still out there and all. I don't help you unless I cover my ass. Don't even give me gory details, give me an outline that I can work with. I'll cover up what you did, not that you did something. Just a small favor between co-workers."_

_..._

_"Very well. Genome, do you know what this is?"_

_"Don't insult me. That's a Grade 8 Nerve Bomb. What're you gonna do with that, give the kid a numb hand?"_

_"Harmless enough to, isn't it? Except, what if I put them somewhere more...potent."_

_"Get to the point, Pox."_

_"Testy. I have two of these. One will go in the Brain Stem, the other will go in the lower Spinal Chord. This is the kind of thing that will split up a certain group of Immunity officers I've been dealing with, and regardless of their efforts, at least one of them will go off. Hector will either be paralyzed, or severely brain damaged to the point of death."_

_"Jeez, you're one messed up guy. What happens if neither of these things go off? You've still got half the group to take care of."_

_"Oh, I'm not worried about that. You see, really, there's just this one virus I'm after. And I will, inevitably, get her. Destroying Hector is a prize of war. Now, how do you plan to cover up the little details?"_

_"Well, it shouldn't be hard. Bombs like that are hard to trace, but they'll know it's you if you've done stuff like that before. I'll talk to some friends, get things smoothed out. The next body you go to should be real hazy about what you've done here. And I'll be in the clear if anything gets traced."_

_"Hmm, pleasure doing business with you."_

_..._

_"Oh, Pox."_

_"Hm?"_

_"Just out of curiosity, how are these officers or whatever supposed to know what you're doing? You gonna hang a banner, cuz that's gonna be harder to cover up."_

_"Oh, don't worry friend. They'll know."_

_..._

_Click. Click. Click._

Genome was trembling, and Maria was uncrossing her arms with a heavy glare on her face.

"I-I, but I couldn't just-"

Maria shut him up by roughly yanking him up by the collar and dragging him across the room, the man tripping over himself and blubbering, begging for mercy. Maria was hearing none of it, Ozzy opening the door for her as she threw Genome at the two officers outside.

"Put him in heavy-security holding, this fool's got a trial on a truck-ton of offenses. Read him his rights."She slammed the door shut in the face of a horror-struck Genome.

"Well...at least we know what he's up to."Ozzy tried, but I shook my head and turned, legs dangling off the end of the table.

"Not that it makes it any better. Pox is forcing us to split up, and we don't even know which bomb he's gonna be with...not that it makes a difference. If we don't de-detonate one, then the other's going to either cripple or kill Hector."Drix's voice was heavy and sad. Everyone fell into an echoing silence.

I leaned forward with my fingers in my hair. My palms pressed to my head and I closed my eyes, a terrible, creeping feeling that Pox might just be pulling farther ahead swirling around in my gut. We were close, I could feel it. The end stretch, the last few moments, and_we were so close_. I could remember the last time it was like this. The last time that the end was in sight.

This felt more final. This felt...almost possible. It was possible, but there was still that little thing that could stop us, and unpredictable factor that seemed to come into play every single time. I'd never wanted something this bad in my life. I kept thinking of his words, of everything Pox said. I thought about my mother and father. I thought about Ian. I thought about Ozzy and Drix and Thrax. I thought about Chief and Sniff and Sneeze and barganing for my glove and saving that woman's child and Thrax's hands over my scars. I thought about twenty-two years.

And then about what Pox had said at the end of the message.

My head shot up, and Thrax was almost smirking down at me.

"You catch it, too?"He asked, everyone looking to us.

"Oh my gosh..."My eyes were wide and my heart was pounding, and I was hoping against all hope that this wasn't a flash-in-the-pan realization, that I wouldn't find a flaw in it in a few seconds.

"What? C'mon, they're doing that whole 'silent conversation' thing again!"Ozzy complained, but I didn't hear him. I sat up straighter, ideas soaring through my head and slowly forming into something almost plausible, fitting together like a makeshift puzzle.

"Thrax."

"I know."

"But what if he-"

"He doesn't."

"_Oh my gosh_."

"Will someone tell me what's going on?"Maria demanded, and I looked at her, not believing that maybe, just maybe...we'd just moved a step ahead of Pox. Maybe more than one.

"Maria, everyone,"I said to the silent room, "...I have an idea."

Sniff and Sneeze stood in the middle of the apartement, both with equal looks of worry and distress. I knelt in front of them and folded my hands on one of my knees, looking them in the eyes.

"You two stay here, understand? Do not leave, no matter what. Only answer the door if it's one of us or Chief."I instructed, and Sniff pouted.

"But...but last time-"

"Last time won't happen."I soothed him, putting a hand on their shoulders. "I promise...but if something does happen, you have to look after Thrax." I whispered, looking to the door that Thrax stood outside of. Sneeze nodded, and Sniff soon followed.

"B-but we want you back, too, okay? Remember what you promised before!"Sneeze reminded me, and I smiled despite the fear threatening to tremor in my bones. I nodded and said softly,

"Yeah, I remember. And I'll stick good to it, too." Both of them seemed to relax a bit, and it looked like they were going to go in for a hug when the door opened behind me. I looked back to Thrax, who had a cellphone in one hand.

"We got the call. He just detonated a small bomb under a car near the Immunity building. They found a paper explaining the whole thing, daring us to go to him." I nodded and gave the boys one last look before standing up and following Thrax out the door. Neither of us said much as we quickly climbed down the stairs and got into the car, only speaking to double-check that Ian was with Gina, who would meet us at the Brain Stem.

I closed my eyes as we drove, resting my head against the seat and trying to breathe through the tremoring fear in my heart. I was overthinking all the things that could go wrong. Because so, so many things could go wrong. We had an upper hand, but then again we thought we'd had an upper hand last time. And we weren't going to be able to repeat last time with good results.

A hand found mine, warmer than my own, and squeezed it. I turned my hand over and laced my fingers through his, keeping my eyes closed.

"Tell me about the future."Thrax said quietly. I breathed out, listening to the low roar of the car.

"It's going to be like that show, 'I Love Lucy', except we have better hair and I'll be the one coming home from work to my snarky, sarcastic boyfriend. Sniff and Sneeze will visit like our weird kids that don't outwardly like, but really we'd rather not live without them."

"Mmm, sounds like a ball. What am I gonna do with you out and being some do-gooder?"

"Learn how to knit."

"Try again."

"Learn how to crochet."

"Ain't that knitting?"

I chuckled and squeezed his hand, trying not to think of what was happening. I kept having flashbacks to last time, blurs of red and smoke and being ambushed and a hand over my throat. I kept trying to tell myself that this was different. Thrax's hand tightened around mine, as if trying to pull me from the world I'd just been in, to keep me grounded here with him, in this car.

"You don't leave my side this time."He warned.

"I love you."

There was a beat of silence in the car, and heat of one hand over a cold one. There was the sound of three and a half years passing, and a few weeks. It was loud and gritty, and it filled up the entire world with the noise. People outside had to have felt it, because in this tiny little universe that took up the inside of a car, this was like the Big Bang, and the world had to know, it seemed impossible that it wouldn't. Fibres had been sewn together, a future was waiting in the distance, an entire world had just been born.

His hand held mine like he was trying to save a life. My eyes were still closed, and my words made colors pulse on the back of my eyelids.

"I love you." He said.

And just like that, as if something had decided that this had been sufficient, the car came to a stop outside of the long, red-ish building that towered over every other building in Hector. On the front, 'Brain Stem' was written in huge, golden letters. And, apparently, the rest of the world had missed out on our little emplosion of worlds, because Gina and Ian were sitting casually on the hood of her car, and Ian was still smiling. Thrax didn't let go of my hand until we had to get out of the car. Even then, it felt like it was still there.

"So."Gina said as we made our way towards them, looking up at an empty Brain Stem. It was dark, empty, looking like it had been abandoned for years. And it reminded me, disturbingly, of how the Heart had looked the day we took on Pox, just dark and echoing and massive. Like anything could be hiding in there, that I was alone even in the group of people around me. "We gonna do this or stand around, huh?"

"It's called a dramatic pause."Ian tried, but even his voice was a bit muted, a bit too heavy. I smoothed my hands on my pants, wiping sweat off and taking a step to the front door. This time I was the first to open it. I was not sitting in a car unprepared, scared, needing to be coaxed out or given a pep-talk. This time I didn't feel like talking. I felt like moving forward.

"Everyone's been evacuated?"Gina asked as I held the door open behind me for Thrax.

"That's what Maria said. Fifty minutes ago. They work fast."Ian answered, his voice quiet and trying so hard to be light-hearted. My footsteps echoed into the room, a tile floor and a dark lobby the size of a small stadium. Shadows clung to far corners, stairwells were only illuminated by the Exit signs above them. Outside, the light was beginning to dim and the traffic had come and gone. People were in in-between stages of their days, working late or at home.

Inside the building, it was like everyone else was gone. Inside and out. Except we knew one person was in here with us, impossibly high up or just in front of us. It was an unsettling kind of unkown, four of us walking into a building and the door shutting behind us with a kind of finality. Gina pulled out something as she stepped up beside me, our footsteps sounding like whispers in the stomach of a monster. She pulled an antennae out of the top of a black box with a screen, and held it up in front of her.

I didn't look at it, probably wouldn't understand what it said anyway, but Gina lowered it in seconds.

"Nothing in here, but there's a reading somewhere real high up."She muttered, looking to the ceiling, "But it either isn't close enough to give a strong signal, or he hasn't detonated it yet."

"Both."Thrax said while I walked out to the center of the lobby, seeing a large desk in front of elevator tubes that were dim, even the pad of buttons offline. Slowly, feeling my heart pound against the front of my ribs, the sound of drums in my ears, I walked around the desk and went up to the elevators. Pressing a button, nothing happened. There was just a dull click, but something came up in my head.

I was pulling pages from what we'd done last time, and editing them.

"Ian,"I called back quietly, "do you think you could find a way to put one of these in use?" I turned and Ian was jumping over the counter of the lobby desk, his smile more so a necessity than anything with real emotion behind it.

"Way ahead of you."He agreed, and dissapeared behind the desk.

"He can do that?"Gina asked, standing beside me. Her fingers were white on the black box, her breathing was a bit too short, and her lips were tense. I reminded myself that all of us, spare Ian, had done this before. We'd lived in a moment that could be our last, and now I was standing here again putting all these people at risk after I'd gotten them back. Gina had never had to go through that. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember anything that could ease that feeling of absolute terror. So I just spoke.

"Ian was always good with things like this."I pointed to the desk, seeing my gloved hand shaking and quickly putting it back at my side. Thrax was looking around next to me, a gun in one hand that he'd 'borrowed' from the Immunity building. I doubted he needed it, and part of me suspected it would be thrown to me if things went bad. I thought about just how bad things could go, all of the guesses we were hanging on, our skeletal plan needing to be carried out exactly, and was glad it was there. "Dad didn't like it. He thought it wasn't a 'well-rounded' skill."

"Well, I'm glad he was wrong."

So was I.

There was a static 'click', and the elevator right behind me lit up in a blue hue. It was almost blinding in the dark, cavernous room, like a flashlight in a cave, but with a few blinks I could get used to it. Ian's head popped up from the desk and he slid over it, coming up behind us as the doors opened.

"After you."Ian signalled a hand into the elevator, and I walked in with Thrax and Gina behind me.

"An elevator."I muttered, watching the doors close and seeing Ian balance a finger on the emergency stop button. The floor gave a lurch, and we started moving. I rested my head back on the cold metal, and gave a breathy laugh, shaking my head.

"What's so funny?"Gina asked tensely. I shrugged and looked forward, Gina's eyes glued to the screen of the box as the elevator rang every time we hit a floor.

"We're using an elevator. Do you have any idea how much time that would have saved us the first time around?" I asked incredulously, thinking how we didn't have Ian last time, how it would have been impossible, but also imagining all the fear that built up slowly as we had moved up stairwells and across bridges. Thrax let out a breath and used his free hand to smooth back his dreads, the small space filled with stuffy, overwhelming fear.

Thoughts rushed through my head, the sound of blood in my ears and images of last time, images of what this time could end up being like. I tried to focus on the doors, on the thought of meeting Pox for the last time. Because this was the last time. The way this thing was planned out, I would never see Pox again. He would be gone from my life. But that didn't specify which of us would die tonight.

While the elevator chimed and Gina muttered that we were getting close, I wondered if who I had been could be doing what I was now. I wondered if she had been strong enough, if she had known what the future held, if she could have handled it. She didn't know she deserved a future, she thought her brother was dead, she thought that night three years ago was going to be it for Pox. She was young and scared and naive. I was still young and scared and naive.

So I had nothing to tell me that this time would be any different than the last.

"Almost...get ready, Ian, the signal's almost at us..."Gina muttered, and I pressed my hands against the wall behind me, swallowing a tremor of fear and thinking of Pox beyond doors, just waiting for us. A warm thumb ran across the top of my forearm, just as Gina called out, "Stop! This is it!"

I stumbled forward, falling onto a knee with one of Thrax's arms around my shoulders and his other hand flailing out to grab the wall, Gina thrown forward into the doors and Ian jumping. I groaned and looked up, catching an apologetic look from Ian before he began to try and pry the doors open. Thrax's arm tightened around my shoulders and we helped the other up, Gina cursing and eyes glancing from the black box to the doors. Her fingers thrummed on the back of the device, her lip caught in her teeth.

"Spit, move!"Thrax ordered, shoving Ian out of the way and working on the doors himself, seeming to have a much easier go at it. Ian backpedaled to me, both of us watching Thrax inch the doors apart.

"...How did it feel last time?"Ian whispered to me. I stood next to my brother and looked down.

"I was afraid. And it felt like this giant moment was rushing on me and all I could do was try and make everything go right."

"This is the man that killed our parents. He's responsible for everything."Ian's voice wasn't happy anymore. I looked up to see Thrax pry open the doors all the way, showing us just inches above the floor. And I shook my head.

"Not everything. We did some things."

I could almost hear Ian's smile.

"Okay, let's go!"Gina muttered, rushing out of the elevators, all of us quickly following after her. We jumped down into a bluish room, covered in monitors and wires and various computers that were all blank-screened. Gina moved slowly towards one side of the room, our breath held, the machine in her hands making a noise getting progressively louder. Then, just as she took a sweeping turn, it pitched in volume. Gina took in a sharp breath and stalked towards the far end of the room, where computers were side-by-side and touching. Over one of them, the machine reached it's maximum pitch.

"This bomb's put into a computer, too?"Thrax asked, but Gina shook her head and moved quickly to the computer resting on a counter, the black box making some loud whizzing noise. She pressed a button and it was silent, then ripped the computer forward and tossed the entire thing onto the floor with a loud and violent crashing of wires and metal. Behind it, attatched to the wall, I could see various colored wires. Gina nodded.

The turned to us with an angry look, the kind of angry look that was hiding someone who was very afraid.

"Go! Don't just stand there! I've got this, spit!" She snapped, and we all broke from our stupors and turned, seeing a door with a large black lock on it. Ian whipped out a safety pin from his pocket, of all things, and rushed to it.

"Leave this one to me." He said as he knelt and quickly fiddled with it.

"Gina, is that thing detonated?"Thrax asked, and I wasn't looking to Gina, but I guessed that she had nodded, because the next thing I heard was Thrax cursing and the blood rushing in my ears. We planned for this. We had to move faster, we planned for this, we could do this. I clenched shaking hands and looked at the door, knowing Pox would be behind either that one or another one. He would make it simple. He wanted us to find him.

There was a click, and we didn't give Ian time to say he'd gotten it. We moved forward and Thrax launched the black lock at the wall next to him, denting the plaster. Ian was up, Thrax was next to him...

And they were both looking at me. I didn't understand for a moment, but then realized what it was they wanted me to do. I looked at the doorknob, something so simple as to just turn it becoming something I had to brace myself for. I heard Gina muttering and maneuvering things behind me, felt the pulse of my veins, felt the weight of twenty two years on my body. I sucked in a breath to take it all in, and used it to push me forward. Filling me to turn the knob.

Three years ago, I'd done the same thing. I'd thrown myself into a room and all hell had broken loose. I'd just been wondering what kind of a person I was then. At this moment, as I turned the knob in my hand and sucked in a breath, I was hoping on the kind of person I was now.

With a final resolution, I shoved open the door.

I did not rush.

I did not run.

I did not feel dread or hopelessness.

This time, I walked into the room with my head held high and shoulders rolled back. Because I knew Pox's worst, and was entirely ready for it to come.

We must have been too occupied to realize where we were, because the moment I stepped into the room, heard the door slam shut behind me, I knew exactly where we were. The window took up the entire far wall, and beyond it we saw a darkened Hector. City lights illuminated the darkness, stretching far and wide, peaceful and entirely beautiful. This was Mayor Spryman's office, except there was a different person in the chair.

He sat like he'd been kept waiting entirely too long. His cheek rested in an emaciated hand, leaning forward onto the desk lazily, the other hand flipping a remote controller over and over. The noise echoed in the empty, unlit room, his hair falling and casting more shadows over his face. Ian tensed up beside me, and I realized that this was his first time seeing Pox in thirteen years, since he killed our parents. Thrax lit his claw, and sent a soft glow around him.

That's when Pox looked up, and ignored both of them.

His eyes locked with mine, and a smile crookedly formed on his face. A surge of courage overwhelmed me, basking against my bones and beating through my veins, and I clenched my jaw and looked right back at him.

"Hello, Iris."He chimed into the room.

"Hello."I said right back, my voice icy and hard, my hands closing and opening. Pox moved his hand to rest his chin on it, a satisfaction on his face and in his eyes that shone against tight, jaundiced skin. Something about him was strange, something that resonated inside of me, begging me to see it, to understand.

"I see you've brought me some old friends. Thrax, I expected. But your dear brother...yes, I knew he was alive for quite some time now. He's gotten old, hasn't he? Have you enjoyed your time together?" He spoke to me, and only to me. And the others were silent about it, because this was what we needed. I had to keep him talking.

"You don't want to know how we got him here?"I mocked, and something lit in his eyes. He laughed, a throaty and loud laugh, still flipping the controller over and over absent mindedly, every thud punctuating his words. He shook his head and continued looking me straight in the eye, never losing contact for a second. My heart was thudding, and I was thinking about this man and what about him was different than last time.

"You didn't honestly believe that I thought my incompetant, albeit crafty, partner Genome would go through the trouble of body-hopping just to get to me? He doesn't have that kind of energy. Besides, as I recall...Ian was imprisoned in the City of Simon, wasn't he? Not a fun place for viruses. But I must give my applause, you entirely tricked Genome, one of the greatest of his minds. He never suspected for a moment that you had placed a recording device on him.

"I, on the other hand, was not so fooled."

Thrax and Ian tensed, my jaw clenched. Pox stood from the chair and made his way slowly around it, one hand dragging on the wood and the other holding the remote to his side, letting it hang there. His eyes were still on mine, and only when he stood before us did my eyes flicker. And my chest tightened.

Pox had a gun strapped to the side of his belt. That wasn't part of the plan.

Before he could notice, I looked back at him, steeling myself to look nowhere but those shifting, watery, dark eyes. He looked back, and I swore I saw him reviewing his own victory already.

"Yes, I knew you had bugged him somehow. Though I give regards to Ian, none of you would have been so smart." I had to keep him talking.

"So if you knew he was bugged, then why tell him the plan you were going to do? Why not tell us something wrong, why tip us off? That doesn't sound like you. This doesn't seem like who you were three years ago, Pox."I spat, coils tightening in my gut, a sheen of sweat over my skin. One of Pox's hands motioned outward and he smiled wider,

"This? Oh dear, who I was wouldn't have done this. See, who I was would have sent fifty men to rip you to shreds the moment I saw you come in here. Who I was would have systematically taken your friends from you, one-by-one. How is Chief, by the way? Who I was would have an army at the ready for you. But who I am can't do that, can I?" Anger, for the first time, edged into his voice. "I owe that to you, Iris. I really do. So I told Genome a half-truth.

"Because I wanted you, dear. I wanted you and Thrax and Ian, but I suppose you brought along that bomb technician too, didn't you? Four viruses, and I only expected one of you. It's beautiful, really. You see, I wanted you to know what I was doing. I knew you'd know that I would be in the brain, that I'm one for the more theatrical outcome. And I was right, wasn't I? But I'm not fool enough to think I could take all of you on. Besides," He held up the control, "This will trigger a gas that kills only viruses. The others would have been able to get me."

Thrax made to step in front of me, but I grabbed his arm and kept him still, my breath catching in my throat, Pox laughing and throwing his head back.

"Oh, oh dear,"He laughed, "what? Don't think you can pull a survival act again? Especially not without the others here, hmm? How tragic it's going to be when they get to the Lower Spine and realize there isn't a bomb there. I didn't have two bombs in the first place, you see, I barely had enough resources to figure out how to make this one. But you just had to check, didn't you? Send the strongest, send the bomb technician, send the two orphans to the place that the bad guy was."

"There isn't a bomb in the Lower Spine."Ian repeated, his voice hollow and breath thin. Pox shook his head, still looking right at me.

"No. I just had to split you all up. Now, without my immunity to the cure and you standing before me...Iris, what do you say I do correctly what you failed to do three and a half years ago?"He mused, a thumb over a button on the remote. He nodded to an airduct above us, one I'd noticed before, and shook his head with a smile. Thrax tensed under my hand and cursed, hearing him seething. I couldn't see Ian.

"Please, do attack me,"Pox teased, his eyes still on me, "I'm afraid it won't do any of us any good."

_Click._

Pox's entire body jerked as he hit the button on the remote. He smiled wide. I could hear my heart beat in my ears. Everyone in the room was standing still, not one breath leaving our lungs, screaming in our own heads, the feeling of something pressing against our ribs and threatening to break them. His eyes never left mine, not for one second.

Not until he realized that the room was too clear.

The door behind us slammed open with a violent 'bang', and a wild cry rang out as my knees almost gave out. Pox's eyes widened, his mouth opened, and he frantically slammed the button on the remote as the room filled up. But it did not fill up with smoke.

It filled with familiar Immunity officers.

Ozzy and Maria stormed in and pointed guns at either side of Pox's head, Ozzy whooping with adrenaline and Drix rounding up behind us, the sound of his massive arm gun clicking into place. Pox looked up, trembling, and real fear flashed across his gaunt, shadowy face. Everything was shaking, my bones and my muscles and my veins. I felt like I would have collapsed had I not still been gripping Thrax's arm, and I had to fight back the strong urge to laugh in relief.

Pox had no idea what had just happened. But I did.

After three and a half years, we had put an impossible plan into action again. And this time, it worked.

Those words rebounded in my head, from side to side. It worked. _ It worked_.

"B-but...no, no no nonono."Pox muttered, thumb twitching on the button of the remote until I thought it would break. Above me, Drix put his free hand on my shoulder and asked,

"Are you alright." I could only nod. I couldn't remember how to speak. I was better than alright. I was over the sun.

Finally, Pox stopped pressing the button, and the remote slid from his hand in a loud clatter. He was looking around, hair flying in his face, chest heaving and eyes wide. He looked like a starved, wild animal surrounded by predators, Ozzy and Maria keeping their guns steadily pointed to each of his temples.

"...That isn't_possible_!"He roared, and Ian's voice came from beside me, strong as if he'd never been afraid to begin with.

"Barely, but it is possible. You're a smart man, Pox, we just decided to be a tad bit smarter." Pox was now looking all over the room, and I was looking at him. I was looking at his fear and his chest heaving and I was slowly beginning to see what was different about him now than last time.

"But what about the bomb-"

"We knew you knew that we'd bugged Genome. You gave it away in the end of the tape, saying that we'd 'know'. That made us want to look at the rest of the tape. Gina tracked down every resource needed to make a Nerve Bomb, and then looked at traced the patterns of when and where they were bought. She never sold any to you, so making one would have to be your only bet. When she saw that you couldn't have gotten more than one bomb's worth, we knew you were bluffing.

"Just to be safe, though, we have another squad of Immunity down there. You seem to forget that there are more than four officers in Immunity." Ian explained to a Pox who was slowly looking more and more horrified.

"But what about the gas? You couldn't have known about the gas!"He shouted, and Ozzy cracked a big grin, but before he could say anything Gina shoved past me and Ian, tossing two bundles of metal and wires as Pox's feet. He looked like he was going to be sick and fly into a rage at the same time. Gina crossed her arms, tilting her head at Pox and kicking the mess at her feet.

"Are you kidding me?"She demanded. "Please, I disabled that piece of crap bomb you made in five seconds. You think we were expecting to rely solely one one bomb when they were bringing me? How stupid do you think we are? We knew you had another ploy. It was Iris's idea that you'd try to use the gas. Now that was all guess work." She moved her head and I had to imagine she was smiling, only seeing the back of her head.

"In fact, almost all of this was guess work. We were just relying on you being predictable. Thanks for that."She finished.

I let go of Thrax's arm, exauhsted. It was easy to play scared when part of you really was, but now, with everything rushing out of me, a dizzying sensation of disbelief and joy was bubbling up. We had three guns and one claw pointed at Pox as Gina stepped back beside me. I was looking at the man who had killed my family slowly crumble.

And then I realized. Nothing was different about Pox this time than the last. I'd just seen something that was impossible to see last time.

Pox was just a man. He wasn't some entity. Pox was a man driven by greed and inferiority. And now he was crumbling. He must have seen that, too, or else he wouldn't have taken the next drastic step.

I saw his hand move to the gun before anyone else, and was taking a step when he said in a voice almost to shaky to understand,

"Then if I go, I take something away from you along with me." He pulled out the gun and pointed it to my right.

"_IAN!_" I screamed, throwing myself forward as fast as I could and ducking my head, slamming into Pox as a hail of gunfire sounded all around the room. Small explosions covered the sound of me slamming Pox against the desk and grabbing his throat, slamming a fist into the center of his face and kneeing him in the crotch. He cried out and dropped the gun, which I kicked to the side and looked behind me, fingers digging tight into Pox's throat.

Maria and Ozzy were pointing their guns to Pox, looking like they'd fired off rounds until they saw me lunge at him, judging by the slabs of blue, gelatenous formula on the walls. Panting, chest aching, I looked past them. Ian was on the ground.

And Thrax was covering him. Both men shifting and looking completely unharmed, a spot of red muck on the wall where Ian had once stood. I would have cried had I given myself the time, and had fury not suddenly overtaken me. I turned back to Pox, who had seen the same thing, the hope now gone from his eyes.

"Look at me."I ordered, one hand still clenched around his throat. His head rolled to look at me, eyes empty but a snarl on his face, a quivering smirk, the broken face of the man who had sent me running twenty two years ago. I breathed in the moment. Here I was, so close now, finally.

"What are you going to do now, Iris?"He asked in choked words, laughing bitterly, "Are you going to kill me? We both know you aren't the type." I leveled him with a gaze, and felt a heat on my back.

"You know, Pox, you're right. Of all the things my father told me, he was right that I wouldn't grow up to be a killer. I'm not the type." For a moment, victory flashed in his eyes. I couldn't fight the smile that fell on my face and dropped the one on Pox's. I let go of his throat and, as I stepped back, finished with, "But he is."

There was a flash of orange and red, Thrax momentarily stepping before me and blocking my view. When he stepped aside, Pox was melting. A slit had opened up in his throat and he was clawing at it, red veins spreading and popping on his skin. He drew in a loud, croaky breath and screamed, screamed out in agony and fury, his body falling to the floor and slowly becoming a liquid. A heat seared my face, but I didn't once look away or move.

For the last few seconds, Pox looked into my eyes. And I felt no fear. I watched as the man who had killed my parents and separated my brother from me and forced me to run almost my entire life fell into a puddle of red liquid on the floor. It took no more than fifteen seconds.

And then Pox was gone.

There was a silence, Ian stepping up next to me, and he took my hand in his.

And he laughed. He laughed and laughed, and only when I grabbed him around the waist with one arm did he stop. His arm latched around my shoulders and he shook his head, smiling and wiping his eyes with the back of one hand. Ozzy let out a massive hollar, jumping and punching the air. Maria collapsed onto the desk, rubbing a palm into her temple. Drix went to her side. Thrax, despite Ian, grabbed the back of my neck and rested his forehead on the side of my head. I heard Gina let out a massive sigh and sit on the floor.

Every single person in that room was smiling.

"I never thought I'd see this day."Ian whispered, and I felt this weight lift. This weight that I'd never known myself not to carry. This weight that had drug down something inside of me, heavier with every year, a weight that lived inside of me until now. It left, flying from me, and suddenly I felt like the entire world had no weight to it. I felt like I could fly, like something inside of me had opened and now colors and feeling and joy rushed up to the surface.

I had seen the day where Pox had fallen. He was nothing but a puddle on the ground.

"Woooo!"Ozzy kept cheering, rushing to me and pulling me from Thrax and Ian, spinning me as I laughed out loud. "We got him! We got Pox! Us bad-boned mothers just wasted Pox! It's time to ce-le-brate!"He shouted, taking my hand and twirrling me around, the unlit room seeming bright as day. I opened my mouth to agree, both my hands in his, when a ringtone rang out through the room. Everyone turned to Maria, who looked at the phone screen and quickly brought it to her ear.

"Yeah?...Wait, what happened...but can't you just- okay! Okay, fine, we'll be there!"She shouted, and snapped the phone shut, standing up and looking at everyone, "Something happened with Chief, they wouldn't tell me over the phone. We gotta get to the hospital!"

"What about this?"Gina asked everyone rushed the door, nodding to the red pile of muck.

"He ain't goin' anywhere anytime soon. That dissolves, unless you wanna call a clean-up crew."Thrax explained out the door.

"One's already on its way. Let's get to Chief!"Maria shouted, and we didn't have time to worry as we sprinted from the Brain stem. Ozzy, Maria, and Drix headed around to the side where they'd parked and waited, while Thrax and I almost fell into his car, everyone taking off in a cloud of dust and the smell of burnt rubber. With the roads almost completely empty, the drive took half as long as it normally would have, and I couldn't complain when Thrax almost drove into the hospital, pulling up on the curb.

"C'mon!"I shouted, throwing open the door and sprinting into the hospital, just seconds before everyone else. The startled staff gave us terrified looks, but Ozzy, Maria, and Drix flashed their badges and demanded to know where Chief was. The trembling secretary gave us a room number, but we were already halfway gone by the time she called it out. Our group tore down corridors and jumped out of the way of doctors and stretchers.

I was the first to the room, almost falling as I skidded to a stop outside. The doors slid indifferently open, and I almost tripped over myself in my hurry to get in and see what had happened to Chief. Except he wasn't there.

The others pooled in after me as I moved to the side of the empty bed, one hand on a crisp white pillow, looking at the folded sheets. The bed was empty. For a horrible moment, my heart dropped. Maria muttered something under her breath, and Ozzy looked, scared, at the bed. For a moment, everyone was thinking the worst.

"Haven't you guys got the damned decency not to run in a hospital like a bunch of animals?"

At the gruff, angry, scolding voice, everyone turned around and called out one consecutive name,

"_Chief!_"

He sat in a wheelchair, one leg in a cast with an arm in a sling, a small bandage over his right eyebrow and a look on his face that was trying to be a frown. The doctor was beaming behind him, holding onto the handles of the wheelchair. Maria, Ozzy, Drix and I were suddenly on him, wrapping our arms around him and making him call out in both irritation and pain, only stepping back when Gina and the doctor told us to.

"Jeez! You guys act like I died!"He shouted, but there was a smile working under his mustache and water bridging on his eyes.

And all at once, everyone threw themselves into the story. Voices shouted over each other, people threw in details, everything was rushed and excited and breathless. So how Chief was able to understand us, I didn't know. His eyes went wide and his good hand ran down the top of his balding head.

"You guys got Pox in two days since I was here?"He asked, and I crossed my arms.

"Actually, a day and a half."I corrected, and Ozzy whooped again. Chief threw back his head and, to a stunned room, let out the most uproarus laugh anyone had ever heard. He shook with it, and a few jaws dropped, but were brought back up when we started laughing, too. Somehow, as everyone threw arms around each other and laughed and spoke to Chief, I was put towards the wall.

Two arms snaked around my waist from behind, and I turned around to see Thrax smiling down at me. And it was impossible to have ever seen a more beautiful smile. Because it was a smile that, finally, had a future. I put my hands on his chest and said, leaning into him,

"So, looking forward to watching me do all the bad-guy catching from now on?" He laughed low and put a hand on the back of my neck, pressing our foreheads together.

"Baby, I can't wait."

I grabbed handfuls of his jacket and leaned up, pressing our lips together like the entire universe depended on it. He breathed in and pulled me closer, both of us sighing in relief, because this was the first time we'd kissed with no known barriers ahead of us. His skin was warm on my face, lips hot on mine, and I was looking forward to a forever of this.

"Awwww!"I heard, and slowly pulled back to look over and see Ian smiling and holding his arms out. "Isn't that beautiful? You guys make such a cute couple! Quick, someone get me a camera!"

"Who in the blazes is this kid?"Chief asked gruffly, Thrax keeping an arm around my waist and me with my hand inside his jacket. I smiled and pulled my hair out of the bun, combing it back as I explained,

"Chief, this is Ian. My older brother." Chief's brows rose as he looked at Ian, who was beaming at him with a big, goofy smile. And after a beat, he shook his head and muttered,

"I remember when viruses were evil, not pretty-boys."

"Hey!"Thrax and Ian chorused, but the rest of us just fell against the nearest objects and laughed, me keeping a hand on Thrax. The room filled with laughing and complaining, Ozzy and Maria leaning on Drix and Gina against Ian and me against the wall behind me, Chief sitting in his chair and roaring with laugher. We were so happy in that moment. And there were so many more moments like that to come. We'd all been brought together for this moment of complete, unrelenting bliss, where we could laugh and complain like idiots without a care in the world. Because in that moment, at least, we didn't have one.

A long time ago, my father told me to never stop running.

I understand why, now.

He could never have known I'd meet people worth stopping for.


End file.
